Crossroads of Loyalty
by NamiLoveless
Summary: I thought that I had finally cast away my hope of their return...but what do I do when my memories come back and make me face reality?
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello, this is NamiLoveLess again, with yet another MapleStory fanfiction. Just as a note that might be important, this is the sequel to my previous one-shot "Reminiscence", so even though reading Reminiscence is not necessary, it might clear up the basics so you know the back story.

This is, in fact, going to be multi-chaptered, so it will be updated continually when there is more to add until the conflict is resolved. (As of now, it has not, if you couldn't tell.) So enjoy the story; if you are ever confused, or I seem to have been inconsistent, don't hesitate to point it out.

Oh, right, and before I forget, I wanted to reply to the review from Randomness from Boredom, if you happen to be reading this—I'm so glad you liked it! A C2? I feel so greatly honored X3 Anyway, thank you very much! Oh, and the Rai I was referring to was a character named RAISTLIN (I never figured out which I's were really L's XD), but I don't know if he still plays that character. Nice to see the strange coincidence, though.

To martelswrath and Nyantsen, if they happen to be reading this: Thank you. You are probably the best guild leaders I have ever had. Don't lose hope!

Well, nothing left to do but to get on with the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

'_I wonder what Gawk and Martel are doing out there, somewhere…'_

This thought was echoing throughout my head, bouncing around in the empty space that my brain seemed to have deserted as I slashed my staff through the air, a burst of ice impaling a Tauromacis. A beastly roar filled the air as it collapsed, a bundle of orange tickets dropping to the ground as the corpse dematerialized into dust. An assassin, clad in a hooded sweatshirt and baggy pants, grabbed them from the ground and disappeared into a portal, beckoning for us to follow.

Yes, even during the rush of a hurried Party Quest, my previous Guild Masters still inhabited my memories, reminding me of them even at the most inconspicuous times. I heaved a sigh as I ran through numerous portals, my staff—a gift from a friend to me—grasped firmly in my gloved hand. As I leaped into the final waiting room, the assassin grinned and waved the thick bundle of tickets as us, jumping in his excitement at our success during this particular run. He presented the tickets to the judge—so to speak, in my opinion at least—and we were immediately teleported to the prize lobby.

"Hey, Nami, hurry up and finish your party questing; I'm hungry!" I heard the petulant voice of Kai from my earpiece, and I groan to myself, tossing a quick "I'm hurrying, already!" to her as my prize is tossed to me and I am hurriedly escorted out of the lobby. I tell the assassin that I have to leave, and at his approval and farewell, I close my eyes and snap our link with a quick burst of concentration, breaking my bond from the party.

"Okay, Kai, I'm coming soon, so stop complaining." My breath, which had been coming in a cross between gasping and panting, began to slow as I relaxed, slowing down from a sprint to a stroll. The laughter and casual banter of my guild mates was picked up by my earpiece, and I listened halfheartedly as I stopped at a nearby merchant to sell my prizes. It was a normal day for me; the chattering from my friends and guild mates cheered me up as I looked up, gazing at the clear sky.

It had been four months since I had departed from my old guild, LoveLess, where two of my closest friends still resided. Yet their current location was unknown, for their contact with us had been abandoned for what was—as it seemed to me—an infinite amount of time.

Four months. That was more like sixteen weeks. One hundred twenty-two days. Two thousand, nine hundred twenty-eight hours. One hundred seventy-five thousand, six hundred eighty minutes. Ten million, five hundred forty thousand, eight hundred seconds. Why did it feel to me as though every second had been ten times as long as it really was? Why did the echoes of my old leaders' voices still reverberate throughout my mind? Why haven't I been able to move on from someone I had turned my back on the minute I tore up that invitation?

It was because I was a coward. I was afraid that they might come back some day, in some unexplainable way, and that they would know that I left them—no, not just me, but everyone who was now inhabiting the new branch. I was afraid that my friends would think that they had been forgotten and left to waste away; if they did come back, their thoughts might turn to the possibility that we had betrayed them. All of these thoughts—and more—mixed with my worry, until they created a vortex that could have swallowed my sanity in an instant. Yet I knew that even though these reasons were part of my worry, the real reason was much less noble and was much more truthful with my own desires.

I was afraid that they were really never coming back.

I could not deny that the other members of LoveLess were still enjoyable to have as company; truth be told, they were the ones that made me smile every day the moment I heard their voices. Ironic, wasn't it—the ones who I cared about the most were actually the ones who had rent my heart into pieces such a long time ago? Truth be told, I had created bonds with more of the newer guild mates; although some were admittedly inexperienced, they learned fast and many of them proved to be a companionable person. But the thought of being separated from two friends for eternity without even a final farewell was a thought I could hardly bear.

I purchased some items from the merchant, setting down some coins on the counter. I picked them up carefully, balancing them clumsily as my arms struggled to hold all of the packages, and the merchant's mouth turned up slightly as he watched my entertaining balancing act. I looked down at my staff, which lay on the counter, unable for me to pick it up without dropping everything. The merchant grinned and picked it up for me and held it out, offering it to me. I fumbled with a couple of the packages before I managed to grasp it with one of my hands.

"Th-thank you."

The merchant said nothing, only nodded in acknowledgement, the smile still set on his face.

I set off in the direction of the village, still deep in thought. I wondered whether any of the other ex-members of LoveLess still carried the memory of Gawk and Martel with them. Although we sometimes half-heartedly spoke a sentence or two about them, lamenting their absence, Gawk and Martel had generally disappeared from our list of usual topics. Had our two leaders also forgotten about us? Did they ever wonder how we were doing without them? I stopped walking and shook my head. Too many questions.

My thoughts turned to the current system in the new branch of LoveLess. As Majeh had promised, I had in fact regained my status as a Jr. Master—despite the fact that my title had not been granted to me until one month after I joined. It was true that I had only been re-promoted only after I had requested it personally—but was the Master really at fault? Surely she had more pressing matters to worry about aside from the rankings of her followers. I began walking again, one step after another, following each other in a steady path.

Perhaps it was my late entrance to the guild that seemed to have given me a lower ranking in comparison to the other Jr. Masters. In my opinion, however, the lesser preference towards me was probably due to my ties to the leader. After all, I had been a close friend of Martel and Gawk, which had explained my "higher status" among the Jr. Masters regardless of my time of entry.

Chi, on the other hand, had Majeh and Rain—and possibly Butta? She seemed to act that way—in her inner circle. I was important to her, yes, but not _as_ important. Compared to my past ranking, my lesser position made me feel like a mere follower. My opinion was appreciated, but not required. I was someone whose advice was practically given to the leader through the voice of her greater assistants. I was obsolete. Unnecessary.

Expendable.

I shook my head violently. Who was I to say that I was so non-important? I was being selfish. A selfish, self-absorbed girl who only wanted to be admired and greatly appreciated by her leaders. A spoiled brat who desired having a voice that would be heard and considered properly in a way that almost made herself a co-leader.

A girl who missed the attention and care given to her by some of her most important friends…

I tried to get rid of the thought and looked straight ahead, determined to find some cheerful part of my present life. I smiled at a few passerby and held a couple meaningless conversations. I gave directions to a grateful-looking girl who seemed to be thoroughly lost, as though she had ended up in the wrong world. And as the sun began to set, the fiery rays coloring the sky, I remembered the items in my arms and ran towards the village, hoping that Kai wouldn't be too upset for my tardiness.

But as I neared the house, I heard a click from my earpiece. Someone had just connected to the communication systems. I did not bother to check the name of the person; I simply ignored the click and continued to hurry towards the house.

"Hey, guys, long time no see, huh?"

I stopped in mid-step, the items tumbling out of my arms and falling to the floor, where many of them broke into numerous pieces. My eyes widened in shock; my staff clattered to the floor, but I was not aware of any of these events happening around me. Time seemed to have stopped.

I knew that voice.

It was Gawk.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: The official first chapter begins…There are many characters introduced here, so if you are confused then don't hesitate to ask about anything. Also tell me if there are any inconsistencies; they only hinder the story and then you can't enjoy it as much. Oh right, I almost forgot; last chapter, I said that I had left four months ago. They were actually absent for six months, so I apologize if you got confused, because I left a while after Gawk and Martel did. Oh, and by the way, for any guild members that may be reading this, _not all of this dialogue was re-written word for word. _So don't yell at me if it's not the exact wording plawks. Thank you.

Oh yeah (I'm getting tired of all these "Oh yeah"s…), don't be afraid to review. You can't just wait around for me to log on in Maple to tell me you liked it. Plus, I like reviews. They make me feel happy. XD

As of this point in time of writing this note, this tale has not ended (in real Maple life). Can't reveal anything else on my opinions until later.

To Randomness from Boredom: Truth be told, I don't know if it was the sickly guy, but it probably was because honestly, how many people in living existence has the name Raistlin? It's too awesome for people. And the review count? I could believe it; actually, I was just glad I actually _got _reviews. Yes, I'm really not a good review-gatherer, but thanks for reviewing anyway. It's much appreciated.

To CrapPishh: Thank you for the alert. It makes me feel special. Haha, just kidding, but I do envy you for your easy and quick resolving skills. If only it was as easy and painless like that…but then there wouldn't be a story, would there? Thank you for the review.

To DarnedNoob (from Reminiscence): Thank you for reviewing. I was actually afraid that my feelings wouldn't be able to be expressed correctly, so me hearing from somebody that it was done well makes me feel better. :D

To Nyantsen: I am glad that you feel honored because, frankly, you should be. I'm glad you like the interpretation of the story, too; keeping the story fresh and—for lack of a better phrase—not boring is something that keeps me thinking of how to improve my writing. I don't think I'll be writing as a career…laughs but anyway, glad you liked that Prologue. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too. Stay positive!

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

"Gawk…?"

That single word was spoken in a mere whisper. I didn't seem to have any strength to speak louder.

"Namina? I didn't expect you to be connected! Hey, this market doesn't look any different, huh? Wow, this seems confusing; I don't see you in the guild register, and—"

I didn't hear what he said after that. I was already sprinting towards the market, my white cape streaming behind me as I ran blindly, my surroundings nothing more than a colorful blur. I had to make sure that I wasn't dreaming this, that this was not a figment of my imagination. I continued to run and leaped over platforms, pushing a few people past me as I kept running, my eyes concentrated on the entrance of the market. I had to see him again; I needed to see Martel and Gawk, to confirm their existence right _now._

I had to know that they hadn't broken their promise.

* * *

"Gawk?!"

I burst into the market, yelling for him, but I didn't see him; he must be in one of the smaller rooms. Seeing the groups of people staring at me, I gave a small, embarrassed wave, before rushing towards the twenty-first room—the room that I had been accustomed to seeing during most of my time in the market.

I leaped into the portal, the violet and blue lights enveloping me as I was teleported into the room, and sure enough, the unmistakable figure of Gawk stood in the middle of the room. He looked very much the same: his orange spiky hair, the same, familiar shape of his eyes, and the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. I rushed over to him, my voice echoing in the room as I screamed his name.

He spun around to face me, his face showing his extreme surprise, barely a few seconds before I ran straight into him, my arms enveloping him in a tight embrace. I clung to him as though I were welded to him, tears streaming down my face; they were the first tears I had shed since leaving LoveLess, but these were tears of joy, not sorrow.

"Nami?" Gawk's voice sounded choked; I had a sudden fear that I was squeezing him far too tightly, and I let go hurriedly. He seemed slightly pale, but apart from that, he seemed to be perfectly fine. I gazed at his face, taking in the sight that I had not seen for almost half a year—had he gotten contacts? His eyes seemed to have changed color, but I wouldn't have been able to remember—and I nearly broke down in tears again at the sight of him.

He smiled brightly. "Hey, Nami. I guess things have changed quite a bit, huh? You don't seem to be in LoveLess anymore, which is weird, considering that your guild emblem looks exactly the same." He squinted, trying to read the small print on my robes. "The letters even look the same to me…"

I ignored his statement; how could I possibly bring myself to explain that we had left him? I tried to tell him all of my feelings and memories, which had built up so much pressure within me that I had almost exploded, but for some reason, the emotion choked me, bringing my voice down to a mere whisper.

"I hope you and Martel are serious about coming back, Gawk…If you're joking, I'll whack you a million times over, okay?" I managed to give a small smile, but my heart was still heavy. "I…I've had enough of people making promises that they can't keep. It's just too much trouble. I just…just…I don't want to leave you here alone, but I…" My voice trailed off. Had I forgotten what to say? No, the words were known to me for sure, but the weight seemed to be too heavy to lift.

He looked at me. "Nami, I am definitely not joking about coming back. And what do you mean, leave us alone?"

"Nami? Who's this…? Oh, hello…"

The two of us turn towards the voice, and I see the figure of a girl with auburn, curled pigtails tied with ribbons on the sides of her head, her hair wildly spiraling down to her torso, which partially obscures her white-and-pink striped dress. A pair of wings juts out of her back, and a leaf dangles loosely from her mouth, the green color of the leaf accentuating her chartreuse eyes. It's Rain—one of Chi's personal advisors and her closest friend.

Gawk seems confused. "Nami, do you know this girl?"

I nod. "Um, Gawk, this is Rain. She's…ah…" I don't know how to explain Rain's connection to me without telling him about the new branch of LoveLess, and I am temporarily rendered speechless.

There is no need to say any more, however; Rain walks up to him with a shy smile—an expression I have never seen on her face before, considering the fact that her personality is extremely extroverted. "Hi there, Gawk. I heard from one of my friends that you came back. You might not remember me much, since I was very quiet in the old guild before I went to the new one…" She flashed him a charming smile.

He granted her a small smile in return, although I noticed that he didn't seem to have much of the sociable personality he showed as when he had met me. "New guild? You mean the new branch of LoveLess, then? And yes, Nami," he adds, nodding towards my shocked expression, "I know about the new branch. How could I _not_ know about it?"

"I…um…that is…" I stuttered, making an utter fool of myself. I shake my head slowly. "I haven't talked to you or Martel for the longest time, Gawk…and I missed you…"

"Well, I appreciate the sentiments, Nami, but you know, I'm—"

"Gawk? Gawk, it really is you!"

The three of us turn to the entrance of the room once again; I notice that Rain seems to jump slightly, her eyes twinkling. I notice that the new voice came from yet another familiar friend—Butta. The warrior grins as he sees Gawk, sprinting over as quickly as he can manage with his sword hanging from his hand. Gawk returns an equally enthusiastic grin as he takes in Butta's appearance, from the tousled brown hair, to the baggy, comfortable street clothing, to the polished blade that catches the sunlight that barely streams in through the thick gray clouds.

"Man, Butta, I can't believe you left the guild…I guess me, Martel, and Mako will just have to recreate our guild while you go on leading your new one, huh?" Gawk says, laughing recklessly as he runs a hand through his messy orange hair.

"Gawk, you wouldn't believe how much some of us missed you," Butta chuckles, patting Gawk on the shoulder. "And to tell you the truth, being the leader isn't even my job. Chi's in charge of that." He laughs again, the sound of his voice mingling with Gawk's laughter, the echoes rising up into the sky.

We sit down as a group—Rain moves over near Butta, staring at him with a large smile plastered onto her face—and I open my mouth to ask Gawk to tell us about where he has been, but we are interrupted once again.

"_Gawk?!_ Oh…I can't believe this! I just _knew_ you were coming back! I knew it! When I get a hold of Majeh, I swear I'll—"

My eyes widen, and Gawk and I turn to the entrance and, our voices matching perfectly, call out the name of another important friend: "Ichi!!" Gawk jumps up from the ground, running over to Ichi to give him a rough, friendly hug. Ichi laughs, patting Gawk on the back, and I smile at the sight of them, the tears of joy once again threatening to cascade down my face. It was almost too much to bear—could I have been dreaming? No, that was impossible; even my dreams would have never given me this overwhelming feeling of happiness.

Gawk releases Ichi from his rough embrace, and Ichi walks over to our group and sits down next to me, giving me a meaningful smile as he nods at me as a way of greeting me. I smile shyly back at him, and look down at my lap as I play with my fingers, interlocking them experimentally in different ways. Gawk begins to walk back towards us, but is stopped by a new voice, one of a female.

"Oh, my god…"

We turn towards the entrance again, and I look at the figure standing still, most likely in shock. It is Lady Martel—the nickname I have given her upon meeting her when I first joined LoveLess—who has arrived; I observe the slight similarity between her and me. Her golden hair, the bangs held back by a white clip, cascade down her back, a green highlight running through a lock of her hair. She gazes at Gawk with wide eyes, her azure irises beginning to fill with tears, and she runs to him, crying freely as he embraces her, patting her back softly.

"I was…I was still…still trying to get over the fact that you were gone since you left…and you…you…" She does not have the voice to complete her thought; she only sobs and buries her face into his shirt again. Gawk smiles awkwardly at us, and I suddenly feel emotional as well, seeing Lady Martel cry so much. I had known that she had cared for Gawk and Martel—Martel especially—and seeing her reunited with Gawk was almost too unbelievable to bear.

"I just…don't know what to say or…or think right now…" I hear her say, hiccuping as she clumsily tries to wipe her tears away with the sleeve of her robes. "I'm so sorry…sorry for thinking that you two left me…f-forever…but now my wishes are coming true…" She looks up at him and smiles through her hiccups and tears. She looks down suddenly, muttering, "I…I have to call her and…and we have to hold a big party for your sakes, you and Martel, right?"

"Aw, Lady Martel, you're sweet," Gawk says, grinning. He looks at her with an emotion that I cannot seem to place—not friendship, not love, but something in between that my being didn't have the intelligence to understand. I hear yet another noise, and everyone turns, wondering who it was that has been so late to hear of Gawk's return.

It's Majeh. His hands are on his knees and his head is bowed as he pants for breath. He looks up, swallowing. His white beanie rests on his head lazily, and his comfortable looking clothing is slightly dirty from the dust he had obviously kicked up in his haste to reach us. His messy, dark hair partially covers his equally dark eyes, and a wrist guard is strapped to his left arm.

"Oh…my…god…" Majeh says, between deep breaths. He runs to Gawk and embraces him, a smile spreading across his face as he closes his eyes slowly. "My old friend…you didn't leave us! You can actually…ah…you can be with us again…"

"Yeah, I know," Gawk says, pulling away from Majeh. "What's with this new guild, anyway?"

Majeh flushes a deep red, and he looks down at his shoes as he plays with his fingers nervously. "Uh…actually, I'm the one to blame. I was the one who believed that you and Martel had left for good, you see. And I came up with the idea of a second guild…you know, so we could have new Jr. Masters, and all that." He looks up at Gawk, a fierce determinations suddenly blazing in his eyes. "We didn't want LoveLess to die, you see? So we tried to save it! And now…now you guys are back. Everyone's happy now, aren't we?"

Gawk looks at Majeh with an expression I cannot seem to place, then looks over to me gravely. I tilt my head in response, confused at what he may have been trying to say silently, but I could already spot a flaw in Majeh's speech. If the guild was split, there was no guarantee as to when this problem would be solved. I smiled at him brightly, however; I still trusted Chi's group, no matter what mistakes they had make. After all, there was a reason why they were leaders.

"You know, Gawk," Majeh continued, looking up now, "When I heard your voice at first, I swear, stopped breathing out of shock. I'm so happy you're back, guys, I really am…I just feel like…well…I feel horrible…I said you had left us for good and didn't care about us…" He was starting to breathe heavily now, his words tumbling over each other until it was almost impossible to understand him. "I'm not sure what to say…my first inclination…we should go back to the old one…but my idea for a new hope…I…costed people money for the guild…can't be repaid…I feel that I should…we should have asked someone unimportant to lead us!" He clenched his fists, biting on his lower lip. I watched him, fascinated, although I did wonder why he always made such long speeches.

"So much happened since you guys left…I'm one of the strongest now," he said, managing a small chuckle. "I learned…a lot of things, and I even saved Chi's identity, since another person wanted it. I took action, and well, she's still here…" He continued to ramble on about other achievements that IoveIess had gained, until he seemed to remember something. He turned to us now and opened his arms out to us, talking to the rest of the group instead of Gawk. "Everyone, please, _please forgive me._ I've got six million mesos; I'll try to divide them out to the ones who paid for this guild idea, although a couple million of this belongs to me…" He gave a short laugh again.

"Well…I'll be going now…I have to think on this. I feel as though I've betrayed you guys, honestly. You and Martel were two of my best friends. I thought you had left and didn't care about us for so long…I'm sorry…" And Majeh hung his head, no longer able to face Gawk. Gawk stared at him, observing him—probably to find out if he was truly repentant. Lady Martel, however, seemed to have believed every word of it, because she walked up to him and patted his back soothingly.

"Aw, Majeh! I forgive you!" she exclaimed, embracing him warmly. "All live LoveLess, remember?" She tilted his head up so that he faced her, his dark eyes facing her innocent blue ones. "And by the way, everyone would have ended up thinking that the two of them were gone forever…So don't put the blame all on yourself. It wasn't exactly all _your fault!_" Her eyes seemed to soften, and I noticed a trace of sadness in her face. "Seriously, it isn't…"

I felt as though I had to do something. I walked up, dragging my feet, and raised an arm. I patted him on the back also, and smiled at him. "She's right, you know, Majeh. It's never just the fault of one person." I didn't know what to do or say, so I simply kept patting him on the back.

He smiled at the two of us. "Thanks, you guys. That really cheered me up." He straightened up, dusting his clothes off again. "Well, I'm off to train again. I can't have people passing my strength!" He laughs, and jumps away out of the portal. Many of us agree, and begin to file out of the room, calling a final farewell to Gawk. He waves in response and smiles at them. Ichigono and I, however, stay behind. There was something that I wanted to discuss.

* * *

"Gawk…"

He seems to snap out of a reverie, and looks over in my direction. We have stood by each other in silence for ten minutes now. Ichigono, after ripping up his invitation and returning to the original LoveLess, had already left, giving me a smile as he walked out the door. Gawk looks at me, his eyes softening slightly.

"I forgot to tell you, Nami, but my name isn't Gawk anymore. It's Nyantsen."

I nod in recognition. Although his name change had surprised me, there was nothing to do about it. "Nyan, then. I always did hope you would come back, you know. And I mean it."

He nods again. "Do you, then? Alright, prove it. Rejoin LoveLess."

I stare at him incredulously. "Now? Just like that? With no preparation or anything?"

He nods yet again. "Well, of course. You did say that you were loyal to us. And Ichi's already come back to us; why don't you, too? You do have an obligation to your friend."

I look down at the ground, biting my lip as I fight the tears that threaten to fall down my face. As much as I cared about Nyan, I couldn't stand that statement.

"_And if you haven't forgotten, Ichi has already crossed over here. If anything will get you to join, it's him, right? Best friends have to stick together, wouldn't you agree?"_

The same point addressed by Majeh, four months ago, hurts. It's the truth, but I didn't like it. I just _hated _the fact that they used Ichi like that. I wanted to tell Nyan this so desperately, but my weakness seems to have resurfaced. I am unable to tell him this, and I continue staring at the ground, chewing on my lower lip until the ground blurs from my tears, blinding me.

"I…can't."

It is Nyan's turn to look at me incredulously. "What do you mean, you can't? That's ridiculous. We're both here and ready to go."

I shake my head. "But where's Martel?" And although I am ashamed to admit it, I have not even noticed that Martel hadn't been present until the impromptu meeting had ended. My old guild leader's brother had returned, but I had yet to see Martel's face again in person.

Nyan shook his head. "Martel isn't here. He still has some business to take care of, and there's nothing you can do about it except to wait." I nod my head in response, taking this into consideration. Another idea entered my mind, and I opened my mouth, finally able to speak my thoughts.

"You said you would have returned six months ago. What took you so long? Why didn't you tell us anything?" I take a step forward, my cheeks suddenly flushing with something I don't understand. I was furious with him; yet it was not rage that blurred my sight, it was worry.

He looks at me, and then breaks his gaze as he looks to his side, observing the portal shining beneath the doorway. "There were complications. Our communication system broke down completely. We had no way of reaching you guys. We had our own personal problems…" He takes a deep breath, looking at me again. "It's best if you don't ask, Nami."

I blink twice and nod as I look down again in shame. My head suddenly hurts, and I wince, putting a hand to my head. My thoughts are enveloping my sanity again, pressuring me until I feel as though my head is ready to explode. I hear Nyan ask me what my choice was, but it was almost too soft to hear—as though I was drowning in a pool of water, and Nyan's voice echoed above me, above the surface. All I can do is shake my head, and he smiles sadly, patting my back and saying a farewell as he walks under the arch, disappearing into the portal.

I lie down on my back, facing the cloudy sky, and spread my arms out, my grip loosening on my staff until it rolls away to dangle limply at the tips of my fingers. My hair spreads out under me as though I was floating, and I relax, breathing deeply as I reflect on my thoughts. Somehow, I am reminded of Ichi's departure from the new LoveLess.

I frown slightly, closing my eyes, and think of him. He had left so quickly, I was upset and envious at the same time. How was it that he could leave the rest of his guild without a second thought, to be reunited with his true leaders? Why was it that I could not do the same? Why was I unable to realize where my own loyalties lay?

I knew the answer, although I dreaded it. It was because Ichigono had a reason to leave. And his reason was the reason for my feelings of the best friend of my leader.

* * *

"_Oh, you are too funny for words!"_

_I hear Rain's laughter in my earpiece, and I cannot help but grin at her boldness. I twirl and slash my staff through the air, a spike of ice impaling another monster as it crumples to the ground lifelessly. I am living another typical day of life, listening to my guild mates as I carry out another strange hobby—today, I harvest peaches in Mu Lung for the sheer enjoyment of it._

_I look up at the sky, wiping my brow with a gloved hand. The stars are beginning to appear in the darkening sky, twinkling innocently as the shadows begin to disappear, blending into the darkness. I set my bag of peaches down on the ground, reaching up with my staff to pluck another heart-shaped fruit from the branches of the tree._

_Rain giggles again, presumably at another ridiculous joke. I notice that Ichigono has not said a word, which is slightly unusual, but not unheard of. As I sit down, taking a bite from a peach, I listen to the conversation silently._

"_Oh, everyone just knows that Ichi wants Butta! He wants him!" she says amid fits of uncontrollable laughter. My blood runs cold, but I cannot bring myself to say anything; I can only calm myself down as I take another furious bite, sinking my teeth deep into the sweet flesh of the fruit._

"_Is that so?" I hear someone say. It is not clear who it is—to me, it is simply a nameless member of the guild._

"_Oh, yes! Because Ichi would do things with Butta!" Rain shrieks, her voice rising until it becomes nothing more than a shriek of shrill laughter. I grind my teeth together, wrapping my fingers around my staff tightly to suppress my anger. I find that it is impossible to do, so I press my finger to my earpiece._

"_Hey, guys, I gotta go. I'm tired, so I'm off for a night's sleep," I say as calmly as I can, struggling to control my rage. "I'll see you all tomorrow, alright?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, sure," Rain replies, still giggling. She was clearly unaware of the damage she has done to my opinion of her. I say nothing; I simply turn the dial to talk to Ichigono privately._

"_Good night, Ichi," I say as brightly as I am able to. "Sweet dreams."_

_I only hear silence for some time, but then I hear his voice, soft and whispery. "Yeah, Nami. Good night."_

_-0-_

_I yawn as I push open the door, entering the headquarters. I rub my eyes sleepily as I walk towards the bulletin boards as I always do, wondering what sort of hastily scribbled messages I might find today._

_There are none, although I notice that the guild's main notice has been altered slightly. Shrugging, I peer closer at one of the comments on a post—the name had been erased. I blink in confusion, and then scan through all of the other posts. It's unmistakable—one of the guild members had left during my sleep._

_I take a peek at the number of current members—which was one less than the number I last saw, as suspected—and I begin to flip through the guild register, inspecting the names. My eyes run down the column of names, skipping over the blots and crossed-out words, until I reach the end, then notice a name that had been hastily scribbled over recently, shown by the difference in the ink's color._

_I lift the paper up and lean closer, trying to make out the letters. When I finally figure it out, my heart skips a beat. For a second, everything in my mind shuts down. As soon as my shock passes away, I throw my head back and scream in rage. I pick up my staff from the floor, gripping it firmly, and swing it wildly, knocking over a wooden chair with a loud clattering noise. I scratch the door with the tip of my staff as I storm out, but I do not notice, as my eyes are blurred._

_It was him. Ichigono._

_-0-_

_I hear someone connect to the communications systems, and I check the name—it is the name of that certain archer. The corners of my mouth twitch slightly, as though they do not know whether to smile or frown, and I call out a salutation to him with my earpiece. I hear him say a hello to me as well. I stop moving, the hem of my robes swaying from the sudden stop._

"_Ichigono," I say, looking up at the clear, blue sky, "Why are you gone?"_

_There is nothing but the silence for minutes; I sigh and lower my hand, letting it hang loosely at my side. Finally, I hear Ichi's voice, startling me: "You were there yesterday, Nami. You know why."_

"_Yes, but—" I begin to protest, but then stop. He is right, I realized. He had a true, legitimate reason to leave. But that didn't make me feel any better. I shift the topic. "But you'll be lonely without a guild, won't you? Are you going to find a new one?"_

_He is silent again, but his pause is considerable shorter this time. "No, of course not. Actually, I was thinking of finding a Jr. Master from the old LoveLess. You know, I was thinking of asking Dorothy for help."_

_I agree with a single noise, thinking of the shy ranger with the soft accent that made her seem much younger than her real age. "Yeah, I think Dorothy would help, if you can ever get contact with her."_

"_I guess so," he laughs. After a short pause, he then adds, "Still, I'll miss you. I'll stay in touch."_

_Truth be told, he never found Dorothy. After searching for a Jr. Master from the old guild, had had given up after a few weeks and returned to the new branch, simply waiting for Martel or his brother to return. I knew, though, that despite his return, damage had been done. It would be impossible to heal those wounds._

* * *

My eyes snap open as I bolt upright, a sharp gasp escaping my mouth. I cannot believe how long I have been reminiscing—the memory had taken over my body for one of the longest times since Martel and Nyan's absence. I bow my head, suddenly quieted in my attempt to calm myself down, and stare up at the sky. It is now darker—although the sky's change was less apparent, due to the "alternate reality" aspect of the enchanted market—and it reminds me of that evening in Mu Lung. I sigh and stand up slowly, brushing dust off of my robes, and walk out of the portal.

As I make my way toward my home for the night, I think back to my memory in the headquarters once more, and I focus on the part of the memory I had skipped over. The changed guild notice. If I had recalled it correctly, it was only one small alteration to a rule. That one alternation, however, reminded me of how they had twisted their words. How everyone twists their own words.

"_No one in this guild is permitted to tease other people **unless it is funny**_."

I frown and sit down on a bench near my house, admiring the true darkness of the sky, and the small stars twinkling above me. It was ironic, wasn't it, how those miniscule stars could shine so brightly, even though they were enveloped in an endless expanse of darkness. I wished that I could have been like a star like that, standing out against the darkness of the others. Instead, I let myself become suffocated by the actions I never took.

I hated myself for it.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello, everyone. I apologize for taking so long to write this chapter, but the only thing I can say is that my writing speed is comparable to a tortoise slogging through a lake of maple syrup. Sorry again! Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter—it made me feel happy, and they really do inspire me. So let's see here:

To CrapPishh: I'm not sure where you're coming from, but I suppose that the guild rule could be funny depending on how you interpret it. o.O Heh, thanks for the cookie. I'll save it for a day when I'll need it. I agree, yours is much less complicated. I don't know how much time yours stretched over, but I'm glad that you guys seem to have that problem fixed, at least. I'm sorry to say it, but I don't usually review as an obligation; I pretty much only review when I get to. I'll try my best, though…Well, time to eat this cookie. Thanks for the review.

To Nyantsen: Awww, don't be mad at them. I don't even see how Lady Martel was part of this, but don't get mad at people. It only makes it worse. D: No angry faces!

To martelswrath: Haha, sorry if I held you up. I'm glad you liked this first chapter, and I hope you enjoy this second chapter.

To ichigono: Awww, it's okay, I'm just glad you read it :D You even made an account! I sure hope you don't get abused too much. .. Thanks for the review!

Yes, that's about it. I hope you all enjoy this one, oh and although I don't like to ask, reviews are greatly appreciated. Usual disclaimers and such, if you are offended, please don't be as I didn't mean it, and all the other usual ones. As of this point, this tale has not received an ending.

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina or Soriena, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

My eyes flutter open, and I look around me. Trees with brightly colored leaves cover a nearby area, reminding me strongly of the trees I was so familiar with, back when I had studied in Amherst. A wooden dock, made of logs tied together with heavy ropes, is under my feet, stretching out for a considerable distance until it stops over a shore, looking out at the ocean. The area seems to be completely devoid of people.

I feel a slight breeze, then turn around to face a young magician holding a silver staff, which was topped by a yellow circle of metal, an intricate design on the interior of the circle. A black hat sits upon her equally black hair, held back by a small white clip on the side. Her gray eyes bore into my crimson ones, making me feel as though she can look straight into my soul. Her hair and clothing flutter in a wind that is nonexistent. It is Soriena, a distant relative of mine. She had joined the new branch of LoveLess a few days after I had, but I had yet to strike a conversation with her.

Soriena walked up to me, still staring at me. "I have not yet talked to you, Namina, have I?" she whispers, her voice merely a wisp of wind that flies away in a second.

I shake my head dumbly. Behind her, I can see the leaves on the trees waving gently. "You're in the new branch of LoveLess, aren't you?" I manage to ask, although my thoughts seem jumbled and clumsy.

She nods curtly. "Yes, I was. You need a favor, don't you?"

I am startled. "I—yes, I do. I need to find a bond…" I trail off, reflecting on her words. "Wait, what do you mean by _was_?"

"Was, as in the past tense of to be," she answers. "I am no longer in the new branch of LoveLess, as I have already crossed over."

"How…?" I ask, my voice dropping to a whisper as well. "Did you know…?" Above the two of us, the puffy clouds begin to separate, morphing into thin, wispy scatterings.

"You would have eventually needed to find a link to your old friends, is that correct? I had known this," she says. "I crossed over to help you. I know your mind, sister Nami."

I shudder inwardly at her use of the word "sister". Her voice sounds like nothing more than a hollow, empty echo; yet I feel as though she can see straight into me, knowing my every thought, and it disturbs me. "What am I supposed to do?" I ask, taking a step towards her.

"Do what you like. I am simply here as a tool for you," she states simply. She twirls her staff in a circle, watching it as it dematerializes into a sphere of energy, which slips into her pocket.

I blink. "Well, what I want to do is be back in the original LoveLess. But at the same time, I don't want to leave this new branch…I care about all these people…" I look down at my feet and shuffle them, sensing my face flush slightly from embarrassment. What was I to do? I couldn't possibly be the only one that was this bothered by the issue. Was I…?

"I see. Well, that is where I come in." Soriena steps forward and holds something out in her closed hand. I see a faint glimmer from a small metal piece, and I tilt my head curiously. "This is for you," she continued, as she opened her fist to reveal a white hair clip, very similar to the one that the both of us were wearing in our hair. She offers it to me, and I take it.

"I already have a hair clip," I say, looking at it in my palm. "And anyway, what is this supposed to help me with?"

"I have transferred my power—my essence, you could say—into that clip, which you are to replace your current clip with. If you wish, you will have to ability to take my identity and assume my form. While in my form, you will have access to my equipment, my abilities, my connections—which you are to use in order to reform your bonds," she explains, her hands held behind her back.

"How—" I began, but I stopped. I scratched my head, confused. "Wait, doesn't this mean that there will be two Sorienas? And what's going to happen to me? Is Namina still going to exist when I'm…well, you?"

She took a step forward. "There is one and only one Soriena and one Namina present in the world at this time. There will still be one and only one Soriena and one Namina present in the world if you assume my form."

I hold a hand to my head; her vague explanations are only succeeding in giving me a massive headache. "So even when I'm you, there's only going to be one of me and you…So…What…happens to you, exactly?"

She closes her eyes and rocks back and forth on her heels slightly, a light breeze blowing past us to ruffle our hair. "The laws of this world will not allow a person to lose their entire existence before their life span has ended. Therefore, while you assume my form, my form will shift to mimic your own."

"So that means we're switching identities?" I ask, blinking slowly several times. I turn around to face the trees, looking at the leaves waving gently.

"Yes; in a way, I suppose you could say that. However, there is one thing that I must tell you of. In the time that you hold the clip I have given you, my existence—and yours, on occasion—has been…temporarily held frozen in time, you might say."

I turn around, startled. "Frozen in time? What are you talking about? You mean you won't be here?"

"In a manner of speaking, that is correct," Soriena says, nodding. "If you assume my form, I will shift into your form and simply "sleep" as a nonexistent person. If you shift back, I shall become myself and continue to sleep. In other words, I am no longer allowed to walk upon the earth unless I am looking through your eyes. You have, in a way, become a container for my existence."

I take a step back in shock, and trip over the hem of my gown. I fall onto the floor on my back, hitting my head, and I groan at my clumsiness. I sit up, although my head still throbs. "You mean that I'm technically two people now? Does that mean you'll never exist by yourself anymore?"

"Incorrect," she says, looking down at me. "I will regain my own existence when this deed has been done and the clip has been rendered useless."

"I see." I look down at the small, white clip, which is still—by some strange means—in my hand. I did not wish to lock up Soriena in a container and not allow her to exist anymore. Even though I knew it wasn't permanent, it felt immoral. I didn't even know how this was supposed to benefit me, anyway. Was Soriena really willing to give up her life, so to speak?

I shook my head. I knew that it was useless to try and argue a case against it in my own mind. I knew that Soriena was right; I had to take her identity, I had to become a container, I had to use someone as a sort of possession simply to mend bonds that I had foolishly broken.

"Well?" Soriena asks, her voice breaking into my thoughts. "Will you use it?"

I hesitate, and look down at the clip again. For almost a minute, there is nothing but the sound of our breaths, and the wind blowing a few leaves off of the branches, scattering them everywhere.

"Yes," I say. "I will." I remove my own clip, letting my bangs obscure part of my face, and hold up Soriena's clip to the light, watching it catch the glare from the sun. I take a deep breath, and then fasten it securely into my hair.

Soriena disappears immediately; a whirl of magic enveloping her before her form is gone, leaving me alone. I close my eyes, and then open them again suddenly as I hear her voice.

"_The deed has been done. It is time for you to fix your bonds._"

I look around, but no one is there. "Soriena, where are you?"

"_In your mind. Do you not see that?_"

I sigh, holding the tips of my fingers to my temple. "I suppose. This is going to take a lot of getting used to." I remember something from what she said before. "Wait, Soriena, you said that when I'm holding this clip, you existence would be frozen in time."

"_Yes._"

"But…When I was holding it, you were still there, talking to me."

"_You seem to have noticed a contradiction, no? But that is not so. You see, this place is not a real place of existence; therefore, I have been able to keep my form. From now on, however, you will have to converse with me through your mind._"

"Oh." I scratch my head again. I'd have to ask somebody how to cure a headache. I look around for an exit, but as I notice none, I reflect on her statement. "Wait—wait one more time. If this place doesn't really exist, then where are we?"

There was a long silence as I waited for my answer. Finally, I heard Soriena's voice again, her hollow, whispery echo of a voice. Above me, the wind blows fiercely, shaking the branches of the trees. "_We are in the abyss known as dreams._"

* * *

I sit upright, gasping for breath, and take in my surroundings. I am sitting in my bed in my nightgown, with a pile of rumpled blankets in the bed on the other side of the room, in my house, in Ludibrium Village. Not a single trace of my conversation with Soriena lingered.

'_Was it all just a dream…?_' I thought, looking outside to see the early sunrise peeking out over the trees.

"_No."_

I yelp and fall out of my bed in shock, hitting my head against the side of my bed as I fell. I straightened up and rubbed my messy hair with my hand, wincing. I looked over to Kai, who was in bed on the other side—she was still sleeping. Closing my eyes, I tried to speak in my mind. '_Soriena, are you there?'_

"_Yes. Do you want to try out your new identity?_"

I nod to no one in particular, and concentrate on…what? I had no idea how to do this. However, I clasped my hands together as though in prayer, and concentrated on the image of Soriena. I felt a whoosh of warm air, and opened my eyes slowly to notice that I was now facing a mirror.

My eyes were black.

My first impulse was to scream, but I bit my lip and looked over the rest of my body. Sure enough, my eyes were black, and my hair had changed to black. I was a bit shorter, with my body physique looking slightly younger. My clothes were now holding considerably less power, my staff was now topped with a yellow glyph of sorts, and as I peeked at a book that I had in my pocket, I noticed that it was marked with the mark of a cleric.

I had become Soriena.

I let out a sort of whimper between my lips, and touched my cheek. I was most definitely not dreaming. I looked myself over again, and then jumped. I had forgotten about the reason why I was Soriena. I dug into her—my pocket, and pulled out a crumpled envelope. I smoothed it out, looking carefully at the name.

LoveLess. The original branch. She hadn't been lying, after all. I check the guild register, and notice another person that had been connected, a person named Vertelan.

"Hello…Verte," I say nervously, trying to adjust to the slightly higher pitch of my voice.

"Hi there," I hear in return. I smile. He seemed friendly enough. I conversed with him while I walked off towards the guild headquarters—not only had I become Soriena, I had somehow ended up Victoria Island—exchanging basic information and carrying a pleasant conversation. After walking for an exhausting amount of time, I press on the earpiece.

"Verte, I'll be going now. I haven't been to headquarters yet."

"Alright, see you. I'll get back to training, too." I shut my earpiece off, and approached the familiar building.

I reached the door, and opened it, coughing as a puff of dust fell from the top of the door. It looked very much the same as it had since the last time I had been there. I walk over to the bulletin boards, my footsteps echoing in the empty room, as though a drop of water had fallen into a still pool of water. As I observe the boards, I notice that all of the notes that I had seen as Namina had been ripped off, the small, torn scraps pinned to the board being the only reminder that they had been there. I see that the Notice had been added on to, and peer closer to read the hastily scribbled sentence at the bottom.

_Remember, be nice to everyone in here. A veteran with godly equipment is no better than a newbie with nothing, because we're all just humans._

A small smile spreads on my face, and a tiny giggle escapes from my lips. I always did enjoy the things that Nyan and Martel said.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, returning to my own identity, and appear in my bedroom to see Kai observing herself in the large mirror. She shrieked as she saw my reflection.

"Nami!" she yelled. "You scared me! Where were you? How did you appear here out of nowhere? I thought you had gone out to get more money."

"Um…" I stutter nervously. I do not feel ready to tell her the story, and besides, it would be too long to tell before it was time for me to start working. I try to steer the conversation away from that direction. "Kai, why are you poking your face?"

She turns to me, rubbing her cheek. "You don't _really _think I have a baby face, do you?"

I stifle a fit of laughter. "You're still remembering that?"

"Yes," she replied, pouting. "I _don't _think I have a baby face."

I can't control it anymore, and I collapse on the floor, laughing. I was glad that Kai had remembered that fragment of our past; it was one of the memories that never failed to cheer me up—one of the reasons why I was so fond of that archer girl.

* * *

"_Oh, hello Kai. Hello Nami."_

"_Hi, Dorothy!" we chorus, waving to her. We are in the market's entrance—Kai and I were there to relax, Dorothy was there to most likely sell some items she had found._

"_Going merchanting again, Dorothy?" I ask, grinning._

_She nods, smiling shyly. "Yes, I am selling." She peers at Kai, who raises her eyebrows._

"_Something wrong, Dorothy?" she asks, sitting down on a barrel._

_Dorothy laughs, a clear, cheerful sound like a bell. "Oh, Kai." She leans over and pokes Kai's cheek gently. "You have such baby face."_

_Kai's eyes widen. "Baby face? I'm not a baby!"_

"_Oh, but you have such baby face," Dorothy repeats, smiling. "Your chin is so round and cute."_

_Kai gapes at her incredulously. "I have the same face as Nami! We're sisters! Doesn't she have a baby face, too? Look!" She pushes me toward her, and I laugh, with Dorothy joining me._

"_No, just you, Kai," she says between giggles. "Only you have baby face."_

_I break down into a fit of laughter, pounding at the ground with my fist as I fall on all fours, unable to support myself through the laughter. Dorothy giggles, clutching at her stomach, and Kai pouts again._

"_I do not have a baby face!"_

_Our only response is laughter. Bystanders stare at us, but we don't notice. I manage to stand up, still wobbling, as I lean on my staff for support, still laughing. Dorothy is still giggling. Kai watches us, and her pout slowly fades away, becoming a smile as she lets out a small giggle, until we are all laughing recklessly at nothing in particular—simply enjoying each other's company in the bright sun of the autumn morning._

* * *

I shake my head, and everything comes back into focus slowly, the blurring of the colors blending to become something that made sense. I look out the window, and notice that the sun was still rising, the fiery colors seeping through the clear sky. The memory had not taken very long, but as I look around, I notice that Kai had already left. I look at a note she had left me.

_Nami, I'm going out to meet a friend. Get me something to eat later. Oh, and also, stop blanking out. You look kinda creepy like that sometimes._

I sigh and pocket the note. I glance at the register, notice many familiar people who are connected, and manage a small smile. With a twirl of my staff, shoving it in my pocket, I climb down the ladder, looking up to watch the weak rays of the sun casting light upon the walls.

* * *

"…Oh, this is going to take forever."

I yawn, stretching my arms above my head, and twirl around again, tossing a few more spikes of ice at a monster, before realizing that it was resistant against it.

"Oh, what the—" The monster blasts me, and I flip backwards as I am blasted through the air onto my back. I sit up, rubbing my head, and quickly disperse of it with a few slashes of blue light.

"Hey, Nami, you need help?"

I turn around to face Butta, who is grinning at me, his hands resting on the hilt of his sword, which is stuck into the ground. I smile sheepishly. "Maybe a little."

He laughs and, picking up his sword with both hands, charges at a nearby monster, neatly cleaving it in half. I rest my arm on my knee, and prop my chin up on my hand, watching him. "You really are some pro, aren't you?"

He laughs again. "If you want to call me a pro, then so be it. Just don't make me do all of this for you." I smile and get up from the ground, and attack another monster with ice, mistakenly.

Butta merely watches, his eyebrows raised, as I am flung through the air once again. "I think I see your problem," he comments dryly, as he obliterates it with a swing of his sword. I pout mockingly, but continue to fight with him, our yells and the cries of monsters echoing throughout the air.

About ten minutes later, we both sit down, exhausted. I look around at the strange glyphs and other unidentifiable objects, before looking back at Butta, who is looking at me with another one of his smiles. "So," I say, at an attempt to break the silence, "Martel and Nyan are finally back, aren't they?"

His smile fades slightly, and he nods. "Yeah, I never thought I'd be able to see their return. I'd really missed them, you know."

"Me too. I'd always hoped that they'd come back, and they have…" I sighed. "Well, at least Nyan did, for now. I just never imagined we'd all be…well, _gone. _Like we'd abandoned them."

"We wouldn't abandon them," he said simply. "We've just got to show them that."

"Well, how?"

We sit in silence, pondering this. I sigh. It wasn't as if I could just leave—as much as I wanted to, I was still terribly afraid of leaving the new branch behind. I couldn't possibly abandon them all—there were just too many to leave behind. I didn't want them to feel as though I had betrayed _them_, like I had betrayed Nyan and Martel. But what could I do about those two, then…?

'_Are you sure about that?'_

"Gyah!" I scream, mostly out of shock. Butta seems to jump, his eyes widening for a second.

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." I turn my thoughts to Soriena's voice. '_What are you talking about?_'

'_Are you sure you're afraid of _you _leaving _them_?_'

I am confused. Soriena obviously notices this, because she says nothing for a short while, and I only feel simmering anger.

'_Are you sure you're not afraid of _them _forgetting about _you_, my lonely, insecure sister Nami?_'

I open my mouth in indignation, but realize that Soriena hasn't taken a physical form, so I shut it. Dismissing Butta's confused look with a reassuring smile, I force her consciousness out of my mind. I didn't need to hear about any more negative thoughts; there were already too many of those.

"Maybe…" I hear Butta say, thoughtfully, and I snap out of my mind, listening to him intently for any lifeline away from Soriena. "Maybe the reason why people aren't leaving is because they're afraid of being alone."

I agree with him on that part. "But Ichi still went, because he was truly loyal." I decided to leave out the real reason why he left. Even though it probably wasn't too important, I didn't want Butta to get angry at anyone.

"True, true." We sit in silence again, listening to the soft sounds of clicking as the machinery moves around us. I open my mouth slowly.

"Well, maybe the reason why people aren't trying to come back to Nyan and Martel is because…because no one else will start it for them. Because no one wants to be the one to start anything."

He looks at me, then nods thoughtfully. "You know, you might be on to something there. They might want someone to be with, like a security blanket, of sorts."

Like a bandwagon. It wasn't what he said, but that was the feeling I was getting. It only made me angry to think about the mindless way people acted, only doing things because of somebody else leading them that way.

"It doesn't matter; it's still a problem, and this drama is really getting to my head," I say, before I realized that my hand was resting on my ear, pressing the earpiece and casting it to the entire guild. I gulped. At least there were only a few people, none of whom were really involved.

"What drama?" I hear a voice ask, the voice of a new recruit whom I had nicknamed Sissy. She was a young warrior, with soft blonde hair that had been tied up in curly pigtails with large, red ribbons, and dark, innocent eyes.

"It's nothing, Sissy," I say, trying to reassure her.

"Is it that guild drama you guys are in?"

I look at Butta, and he shrugs. I mentally slap myself. Of course she'd know about it. "Yeah. Do you know Nyan and Martel?"

"Of course not," she says, giggling. "I'm a new recruit, remember? I joined just after this new LoveLess was made."

"Oh. Right." For some reason, Sissy had seemed so friendly and familiar in the past time that she had seemed as though she was an original member.

"But if you want my opinion," she says, in a confidential tone, "You should probably fix it as soon as you can. Drama isn't good for anyone." I agree, and thank her, before looking at Butta. He shrugs again.

"You know, she's got a point."

I giggle. "Yeah, she does. Too bad we have to make ourselves do something about it, first."

* * *

"Nami, what's up?"

I sit up suddenly from the bench, startled by Ichi's voice. Seeing him standing in front of me, staring curiously, I flush from embarrassment, due to the fact that I had nearly fallen asleep on the bench. "Ichi! It's been some time, hasn't it?"

He smiles and nods. "It sure has. Hey, listen. Nyan said that he was going to have a party to see his friends later. You saw the notice in your headquarters, right? He said he sent a messenger to put one up for you guys."

I nod in response, remembering the image of it. "Yes, but it said that he had to talk to you if you invited me. What was that about?"

He sits down next to me, laying his bow at his feet. "Nami, I need to tell you something. Even though Nyan and Martel trusted you before the…incident happened, the thing is that they're back now, and you're not. To put it simply, you're basically in hot water with them."

"Hot…water?" It's all I can bring myself to say, like some fool who can only mimic others. My mind is still attempting to understand the weight of what he has told me.

"Yeah, they're not really happy with you. They're upset because you haven't come back." He takes a glance at my face, and then—noticing my look of outright rage—hurriedly continues, "Hey, if you have anything to say, tell Nyan, not me, alright?"

I relax considerably, my shoulders releasing tension. "I'm not angry with you, Ichi. Sorry if I scared you. I'll make sure I talk to him later."

He smiles at me again comfortingly. "Great to hear. It's nice to talk to you, Nami, you know. Take care." And with that, he stands up, picks up his bow, and with another smile, he walks away, a few strands of hair in his ponytail floating in the wind. I lean back on the bench, looking up at the clouds, and sigh, a heavy sigh that nearly releases all the breath in my body.

It had only been five minutes. Five minutes of conversation that could have been between any two people, about any guild. Why was it weighing so heavily on my mind? Why had five minutes changed me so much?

Was it the fact that they were angry with me? I stiffened for a few seconds. Why were they only mad at me? Ichi hadn't said that they were mad at Butta, SJB, or anyone else, for that matter. Was that a mistake, or did they really say it like that? I clutch my hair with trembling hands, trying to calm myself down, and breathe deeply.

"_Stop worrying so much. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know._"

I freeze, and shove Soriena's conscience out of my mind, but I reflect on her statement. She was right. There was no point in expressing angst over such a stupid worry. If they were angry at me, all I had to do was try to make up for it. The question was, how could I do that…?

I sigh heavily again, and walk back to the terrace, watching the sun periodically hide behind thin, gray clouds as I walk. When I reach the terrace, I lean on the railing, staring out at the landscape before me, and then close my eyes, letting the soft breeze blow through my hair. The corners of my mouth turn up slightly, and I breathe in the cool evening air, even standing up on my tiptoes from breathing so deeply. The crisp air clears my mind, though, and I watch the sun lazily descend towards the ground, its color deepening into a richer, red shade as time passes.

I hear a click, and check the name on my register. Perfect. Just the one I wanted. Pushing gently off of the railing, I turn around, my hair fluttering behind me, and my eyes widen. Standing before me is Nyantsen, the very name I had just seen on my register.

"N-Nyan," I stutter. "You startled me!"

He does not respond immediately; he only looks at me intently, studying my face. "Nami," he finally says, his voice quiet and lower in pitch, "You look like something is wrong."

I shuffle my feet and look down at the floor, my face reddening. "Well, I have something to ask you about. Ichi said that you and Martel were upset with me, because I haven't crossed over yet." Nyan crosses his arms.

"He was right. I'm kind of mad, actually. Martel was pretty upset when I told him you weren't back, either. You know what he told me? He said, 'I thought I could trust Nami with her coming back. I guess not'. It's shaken him up a bit, you know."

For some reason, an exaggerated image of Martel, his head hanging and a mushroom-shaped sigh bubble next to him appears in my mind—curse my obsession with animation—and I stifle a laugh. What was wrong with me? There was nothing that was supposed to be funny at that moment.

"Nami, are you listening?"

I blink and look at him, snapping out of my reverie. "Sorry, I was sidetracked."

He rolls his eyes, although I know it is more out of amusement than annoyance. "The point is, Nami, that we—as in me, Martel, and Ichi—all miss you. We want you to come back."

I bite my lower lip. "I miss you, too. I want to come back, I really do, but—"

"Then come _back_ already!" he protests, stomping his foot for emphasis. All hints of amusement have disappeared in a sudden movement. "If you miss us, then why won't you come back?"

The faces of my guild members flash through my mind. Butta. SJB. Kai. Ane. Sissy. So many others that I would have to leave behind. I shake my head slowly. "I can't. I can't leave them—Butta and SJB and—"

"You'd rather have Butta and SJB than Ichi?" Nyan snaps, taking a step towards me. I back away, my eyes widening, but for once, I do not look away.

"Of course not! I never said that! I don't want to leave any of you!" I say, my voice rising. Tears are beginning to well up, but I shake my head furiously, making them fall towards the ground—small crystalline drops that are quickly lost in the evening breeze.

"Well, it sure _seems_ like you're abandoning us!" he retorts, crossing his arms.

"Nyan, haven't you asked the others to re-join?" I say suddenly, taking a step forward now. My voice is becoming higher and shriller, matching my rapidly rising emotions.

"No, of course not! Why should I?" he asks, his mouth open in a ferocious snarl.

"But they're important to the guild, too—" I begin desperately.

"Nami, we're not talking about them—"

"They didn't give up as easily as you think! Butta—"

"I don't care about them! I only want _you_ to come back!"

A moment of tense silence passes between us as I stumble backwards, shocked by his words. Only me? Even if he had been caught up in his emotion, it was still a shocking statement. I finally break my gaze, and stare down at the ground.

"Why just…me?" I whisper.

Nyan seems to relax a bit. "Nami, if they'd come back, that'd be great. I'd welcome them with open arms. But I'm trying to get you back personally because you're really important to LoveLess. Right now, I don't feel like going after everyone else if I know that there's a chance that it would be useless."

"You think that I'll come back for sure, then."

We stand in silence, Nyan looking at me, while I look behind him, at the sunset.

"Yes. I think so." He nods to emphasize this, and adds tentatively, "So, will you?"

I shake my head slowly. "I have to think about it some more. I'm sorry."

He sighs. "You seem to say that a lot lately, don't you? Fine, think as much as you want. I won't rush you, unless you're just stalling for time."

I give him a weak smile and nod, but tears are starting to gather, and I don't want him to see it. I raise my hand in a sign of farewell, and turn my back on him. I hear him say a farewell in return, but it barely registers in my mind—more echoes—and I walk through the arch, disappearing into the shadows.

Behind me, the sun has almost completely descended below the horizon, its scarlet rays spread out everywhere, bleeding across the sky.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello, you know who I am by now, so no need to say it. Sorry for updating so horribly slowly; my time is being used for almost everything humanly possible, so I have very little time to write, and when I can, I get writer's block sometimes. But that's no excuse for a lack of writing! I should reply to everyone who reviewed, too.

To Randomness from Boredom: Your review was for chapter 2, but since I didn't get it back when I uploaded Chapter 3, I'll just reply now. I should hope they're not too short—with me and my updating speed, it'd be better to have something with a decent length. Of course, if I had shorter chapters, they'd get put up faster, but I don't like the chapters being so short. It makes me feel like I'm ripping people off. But enough rambling; thanks for the review, and since we recently expanded LoveLess to 100 people, I'll gladly invite you if you ever need a guild. :D

To CrapPishh: I'm glad that it touched you; sometimes my paranoia makes me wonder if my story just degenerates into emo-like angsting, but that's just me and my tendency to over think things. If you ever have time, I'd love to hear your story of your two guilds. I'm sure it could help people in some way. It sure would help me—it's always nice to know that you're not alone in suffering (after all, misery loves company XD). Thanks for reviewing.

To thugax532: Wow, you actually reviewed…I wasn't expecting one, so it pleasantly surprised me. :D And you won't be in the story for a while, okay? It's not something I make up, lol; this is going in chronological order.

To martelswrath: I'm glad you liked it. Here's another chapter to hopefully entertain you a bit. You're doing a great job as guild leader!

I just realized that this story now officially has the most chapters that I have ever written for fanfiction; interestingly enough, I have quite a few less hits than my now second-longest story, but four times as many reviews. Strange. I like it. You guys are really lifting my spirits, even though a lot of stuff is dramatic and depressing (save the occasional humor scene). Oh, and sue me for not being good at writing a battle scene that never really happened, since we all know there's no PvP in MapleStory. Boo.

At the point of writing this, I am assuming that the tale has officially ended. If something else happens unexpectedly, then fine, but I think the guild drama is now over in real time.

Usual disclaimer. I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina or Soriena, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

In the light of the sunrise, leaves rustle, and I look up to see the rays shining, casting waves of soft pink and pale orange across the sky. It's morning—early morning, to be precise; almost too early for any person to be awake. I yawn, covering my mouth with my hand, but smile sleepily anyway, looking out at the horizon, leaning against the railing as I did just two days ago.

Two days should have been enough time to think it over—or at least, that's what I thought. I sigh and lay my arms flat on the top of the railing, watching the small stars slowly disappear in the glow of the sun. A few minutes pass, until I am tired of the silence, and I call out to Soriena with my mind.

Within a few seconds, I could feel her presence. '_What is it that you need, sister Nami?_'

"Nothing," I say to myself softly. '_Wait, I mean noth—'_

'_I can hear you speaking, you know._'

I blush. "Well, I was just wondering about the others in the new branch." I stand in silence, deep in thought. Did they face such difficult choices, the way I did? Was their decision as hard to make as mine? I lift my head. "Soriena, have you talked to Lady Martel recently?"

'_Yes, I have._ _Why do you ask?_'

I do not respond, as I am thinking once again. Lady Martel had also hoped for their return so fiercely—in fact, she had even put up three posts in the headquarters before she left, telling her farewell. I hadn't read it closely, but the form had looked like a song…

'_If you're wondering about her, just check the register. I believe that she is in the old branch, correct?_'

I blink. I should have thought of that before. I nod, close my eyes, and clasp my hands together, and with the same warm breeze spiraling around me, I take on Soriena's appearance. I promptly get my cape snagged on the end of a rail—I am still not used to Soriena's appearance, especially her torn cape—but I managed to completely switch to Soriena with only a slight wobble in my walk for a few minutes.

I look at the register, and greet a girl whom everyone called Liz; she greets me as well, but other than that, it is silent. Deciding to pass the time by training, I walk off to a nearby garden.

After an hour, I hear Liz's voice, greeting Lady Martel, and I pause, clambering up a ladder to check if she was saying the right thing.

"What was that, Liz?"

"Huh?" Liz seemed startled. "Oh, it's nothing, Soriena. I said it in the wrong signal."

I tilt my head. Didn't Soriena say she was in LoveLess…? Without a further thought, I flip open the register, and search for her personal signature.

Sure enough, she was connected. I deftly turn the dial on my earpiece, and whisper urgently to Lady Martel: "Lady Martel, is that you?"

I hear a response quickly, her usually serene voice now sounding rather confused. "What? Who is this?"

I hesitate—I had never planned on telling anyone who I was—but realize that I had to tell her in order for her to understand. "It's me. It's Nami."

"Oh!" Her gasp of surprise seems to contain several emotions, but she immediately calms herself down and greets me enthusiastically. "Nami! It's nice to see you."

"Lady Martel, I have a question to ask about LoveLess," I say, deciding to sit on a chair on a platform, rather than hanging on a ladder.

"…Yes, what is it?" she asks, her tone suddenly becoming somber. The atmosphere seemed to have dropped, somehow. I hoped that nothing bad happened.

"Well, you're not in it anymore, are you…?" I inquire nervously. She confirms this, and I scratch my head, confused. "Why? Did you get expelled?"

"No. I quit."

I fall out of my chair, and my arm crashes into the ground, but I sit up quickly, casting a quick healing spell. "Quit? But I thought you cared about Nyan and Martel, didn't you?"

"I do…" she says, and I am forcibly reminded of the conversation that I had with Nyan just a few days ago. "But I couldn't deal with this drama anymore! It was just too much! Everyone is so mad at each other, and we're getting into arguments…" She breaks down, and I can do nothing except offer feeble consolations as she cries. "This is not how we should act as a guild! This is hurting our relationships with each other!"

"Lady Martel…" is all I can manage. If we had been talking face to face, I might have been able to do something more, but for the moment, I am rendered useless. I felt horrible, though—she loved everyone, and she loved peace as well, and everything she said was right. It wasn't doing anything to help us.

"So I quit, to get away from everything. I'm not coming back until things get better. I'm sorry…" she says softly, still hiccupping. I sigh slowly, but smile and try to talk more cheerfully.

"That's alright, Lady Martel, as long as you feel happier. Why don't we become friends, so we can stay in touch with both…identities?" I ask, and she agrees cheerfully, accepting the invitation I send her.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you later, okay?" she says, her calming tone back again. If you could hear a smile, I would have just heard it, but she disconnects herself, and I lean back in my chair.

Lady Martel. Even though she was a quiet person, she was more important to me than it seemed. What she said had really made me wonder. Everyone had wanted to merge our guilds together, but the truth was, all of our feeble attempts were only making a larger rift between us. And now that time had passed, was I really sure that people still wanted to merge? Did Chi and Majeh want to give up their position as leaders?

But more importantly, even if they did, would Nyan and Martel forgive them…?

* * *

I collapse on the dusty ground, panting, as I try to catch my breath. I look up at the sky, which is a rather gloomy shade of gray, as it is covered by clouds, and frown. Perion really wasn't a place to go to lift your spirits. I tuck a few flyaway strands of hair behind my ear, and scan the barren, dusty ground.

A figure approaches, and I struggle to stand up against my fatigue from trying to run nonstop to Ellinia to catch the ship to Orbis. When I am finally standing, I notice that the figure has gotten considerably closer, making his features easier to identify.

It was Majeh. I stiffen, but I relax my face into a smile, trying not to show any hints of worry towards our guild problems. He apparently noticed me, as well, because his eyes widen briefly in shock before he smiles as well.

"Nami, it's nice to see you here. I wasn't expecting it," he says, laughing. I giggle too, agreeing with him. A moment of silence passes, and I stand by him awkwardly as I watch him fidgeting with his register.

"Nami, have you realized that we're the only ones connected to the network right now?"

I shrug. "What about it?"

He sighs as he looks at me, his eyes somber. The emptiness of them seems to make my body feel as though its temperature had dropped several degrees. "Our guild is beginning to become inactive. Chi is almost never with us anymore. Rain doesn't talk much, either. It's as though we're fading away. Like the old LoveLess."

I clench my left hand into a fist, but I shake my head slowly. "People are here all the time, you know. We're not really inactive."

"Yes, we are!" he yells, startling me. "How are we supposed to operate if our leader is never even here?!"

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out until a few seconds pass. "We'll manage, Majeh. Just like how we managed in the old LoveLess for two months. There wasn't anything wrong, back then. And Chi—"

"A guild can't operate properly if there's no leader to lead us," he hisses. Before I can react, he swings his dagger at me, and I just barely manage to jump back, the tip of his weapon scraping against my left arm.

"Then you can lead us temporarily, if you want!" I protest, casting a magic shield subconsciously. I didn't know why I did it, but I sensed that his emotions were starting to take over. "Besides, she's only been gone for a couple weeks."

"How do you know that she hasn't left us forever?" he roars, charging at me, and I stifle a scream as I teleport a safe distance away. "How do you know she's not going to abandon us, and not tell us about it, the way that Nyan and Martel did?"

"They came back!" I scream back, the barrier holding back my emotions breaking. "They _didn't _abandon us!" I slash my staff through the air, conjuring a spark of lightning above him to strike him down.

He looks up, and somersaults backward seconds before the lightning strikes the ground. He meets my eyes, a cruel smirk playing across his face. His eyes flash for a moment before he lunges at me again, and I teleport away again hurriedly, somewhat surprised at my own outburst.

He keeps charging after me, and I keep running away. I do not know why he wants to harm me—it must be his emotions, but he is not the type to be so emotional so easily. I didn't want to hurt him, though. I didn't want to cause anything from judging too quickly. "Majeh, what are you—?"

"What if Chi just decided to give up on us? What if she just doesn't care anymore?" he screams, his eyes blazing as he charges at me again wildly. Something in my mind clicks, and I am rooted to the ground for a few precious seconds, before I jump away to allow his weapon to tear across my sleeve, but my mind is no longer as alert.

He didn't fully care about a leader. He cared about Chi. He didn't want to lose her.

* * *

_I yawn as I check the register in guild headquarters, and my eyes widen momentarily as I stare at the number of members—at least six less than what it was yesterday. I blink several times. Was I reading this wrong?_

_No, it was definitely much smaller. Shrugging it off—I supposed that someone had just "cleaned out" the guild of inactive members—I greeted the only other member connected at the time, whose name was apparently Bob._

"_Oh, you're Nami, right?" he asked me, and I confirmed this._

"_Well, I just wanted to let you know, my brother Majeh made a new LoveLess. I'm staying in here to make sure that everyone gets the message so they can cross over."_

_I freeze. "Cross over?"_

"_Yeah, he said that he wanted a guild that actually had a leader. You're going to cross over, right?"_

_I move my mouth soundlessly for several seconds, before stammering some unintelligible response, but he seems to take it as a confirmation, so he gives a short laugh and then falls silent. I, however, continue to stand silently in the room, tears beginning to gather at the corners of my eyes._

_-0-_

_I hug my knees closer to my chest as I tilt my head up, sitting in the grass as I looked up at the dark, moonless night. The events of that morning were still echoing within my head, and by this time, many of the members had already defected to join Majeh's LoveLess._

_Although it pained me to say it, the absence of their presence was hurting me so much that my mind was actually tempted to cross over with them. I shook my head violently. What was I thinking? I couldn't leave Gawk and Martel behind._

_An unbidden thought crossed my mind; a short burst of a memory of my ex-friend. I remembered her standing with me on that terrace, smiling tearfully at the sky. She had been upset when she asked me to find her, I remembered, because she had lost a friend, but I stayed near her like she asked me to, despite my personal vendetta against her._

"_Nami," she had said, "I want to tell you something that I heard once, because I liked it, and I think you should hear it, too."_

_I had turned to face her, and smiled a bit, asking her what it was._

"_Friends are like balloons," she told me. "Once you let them go, you can never get them back, so tie them close to your heart."_

_I still remember what she said, and all it did was hurt me more now. I had done what she said; I had held all of my guild mates close to my heart. But now, they were beginning to fade away, apart from each other. I didn't want to let them go. Any of them._

_I couldn't let Gawk and Martel leave us…I couldn't…!_

* * *

Pain suddenly tears across my side, and I cry out before I realize that Majeh had practically thrown me across the ground. I look up to see him readying himself for another attack, and I scramble to get back up, but he is suddenly right in front of me, and pushes me backwards, making me fall again.

"Majeh, how are you supposed to know if Chi will come back? _You _aren't even active now! If she comes back, how will you know if you aren't even here?" I scream out of desperation, holding my staff out defensively as he approaches me slowly.

"I have my ways of knowing," he retorts, spitting out the words. "It's really not your business as to how I know."

It takes a few seconds for me to realize that he is now right in front of me, his left arm pushing my staff out to the side, where it is impossible for me to move it. "Nami, you're still one of the most important people in this guild to us, and to me. But I can't let you think that we are ever going to become one guild again, because we're not—not until those two forgive _all_ of us."

I lower my eyes down, and say nothing as I struggle not to cry. Somehow, it's easier to hold in my tears now.

"I'm sorry, Nami." I feel the pressure lifted from my staff, his presence retreating, and I look up to see him now standing a few feet away from me, his back turned. I begin to reach out to him, before I realize that he cannot see me, and I lower my hand again, letting it fall limply at my side.

Even if he had been facing me, what could I have said? That everything would be alright in the end? That things had to get worse before they got better? Nothing I could say would possibly help. So I sigh and watch him walk away, his figure becoming smaller with each of his steps, until he disappears into nothingness.

* * *

I collapse onto my bed, thoroughly exhausted, and sigh heavily. All of these emotions were beginning to crowd out all rational thoughts in my mind, leaving nothing but fierce feelings that threatened to tear what was left of my sanity into shreds. A guild was supposed to act as a group of good friends, not divide us into enemies.

There had to be some way that I could let these feelings out. I ponder this, turning over to lie on my stomach, and let my eyes wander to an unsteady stack of books at the side of my bed. Some people wrote anger letters to let their anger out, didn't they? Some people wrote poetry when they were depressed, didn't they?

I reach over, and pull a notebook and pen towards me. I could just write the events down, like keeping records, in my own perspective. Perhaps it was the perspective that we were all missing—the fact that we all did what we did because we didn't understand where others were coming from. It was just records, after all…just my own thoughts. Thoughts never seemed to do much in this world anymore, anyway.

So I sat up on my bed, and began to draw my pen across the paper, slowly pouring out my thoughts. My feelings. My memories.

* * *

I open my eyes and sit up, yawning. How did I get here? I look to my side as I rub my eyes, and I notice the notebook at my side—of course. I must have fallen asleep after I had finished. With a slight frown, I pick up the notebook, and shove it into my bag before I walk out of the door.

"Hey, Nami!"

I jump slightly at the sudden voice, but I smile and turn around to face a familiar White Knight. "Hey, Butta! How're you doing?"

"Not bad, you?"

I hesitate as I glance down at my bag. "Not bad…" Before I could give him a chance to reply, I move slightly closer to him. "Butta," I whispered, "Can you do something for me?"

He seems a little surprised, but he nods anyway, so after staring into my bag meaninglessly for a few minutes, I reach into it and take the notebook out. I hold it out to him, and he takes it, a confused look on his face. "I wrote records of a sort, "I explained, "about the guild drama from my perspective. I don't know what people would think of it, but…"

Butta nods slowly. "You want me to read it?"

I nod, unable to say exactly what I meant. Somehow, even though he was a key figure in Chi's inner circle, he was still someone you could truly place your trust in. I wanted him to read it, yes, but not for entertainment; I wanted him to react somehow, so I could see what he felt about it. I wanted to see how the others felt about it—I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way.

Minutes pass as he takes a seat, reading it, and I sit near him, doing virtually nothing but staring at the clouds in the sky. And as a cloud passes over the sun, throwing a giant shadow over us, he looks up and closes the notebook, holding it out to me. I take it nervously, and put it back in my bag.

"It's great."

I look at him blankly. "What?"

"It's great," he repeats, now looking at me strangely. "You really put your feelings across. I liked reading about it from someone else's point of view—it makes the story look different somehow, doesn't it?"

I nod and agree quietly. He smiles. Then, I hear a click from my register—and Butta apparently did as well, as he looked down at his register—and I realize that it was Ryu. The same Ryu that had left LoveLess to make his own guild before—but of course, all of that had been forgotten long ago.

"Ryu!" we both call out, in the channel meant for close friends. I hear Ryu laugh and greet us as well. Beside me, Butta tilts his head slightly, and suddenly, a small image of an envelope appears on my register. Tapping it lightly, a small, holographic image of a box appears in mid-air in front of me, displaying Butta's face and an empty box, which is quickly replaced by Ryu's face.

"Hey, guys," Ryu said, grinning. "Long time no see, huh? What's up?"

Butta smiled too. "Nice to see you, too, Ryu. Looks like you've been training."

"Hi, Ryu," I say, grinning as well. "I'm just sitting here uselessly, slacking off."

He stares blankly for a few seconds, before laughing. "Well, that's great, I guess."

I turn to look at Butta, who is still sitting near me. "Butta, does he know about the…drama thing?"

Butta shrugged, so I asked Ryu. When he nodded and confirmed this, I gave a nod of acknowledgement. "...Okay."

Ryu looks confused. "Why?" I shake my head, but Ryu narrows his eyes slightly. "Did something happen?" I shake my head again, but Butta turns to me.

"Did you want to show him the records?"

"What records?" he asks, but I hesitate, thinking it over. If I showed him, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't tell Majeh, Chi, or Rain about this—but then again, he wasn't really too involved in the problem yet. I pull the notebook back out of my bag, and hold it up near the image to show Ryu.

"These records." I explained to Ryu what they were about, and after a few minutes of wondering how to let him read it, we finally succeed, and as I watch Ryu hold the notebook up to read it, obscuring his face, I turn to Butta. We simply wait for Ryu to read the records, discussing nothing but unimportant topics, and we both turn our attention to the image again as I hear the sound of Ryu shutting the book closed.

"Well…?" I ask nervously. He looked rather confused.

"You mean to tell me that you joined my guild to spy on me?"

"Um, Ryu, I don't think that's what she was trying to tell you," Butta said, laughing slightly. "What did you actually think of the _whole _thing?"

"Oh, it was good," Ryu said, waving it aside. "But you were _spying _on me?"

"Ryu, you knew about it!" I said, between laughs. "You figured it out, remember? You practically made me _say _I was Nami!"

"Since when?" he demanded. By now, Butta, who wasn't even involved in this memory, was finding this rather amusing. "You never told me!"

"Yes, I did," I managed to answer, my laughs almost choking me by now. "I remember it well."

* * *

"_Hey, new girl."_

_I turn the dial to answer my guild leader, Ryu. "Yes?" I ask, raising the pitch of my voice again._

"_You said that you had another identity, right? Your real one?" he asks._

"_Y-yes…"_

"_What's her name?"_

_My eyes widen, and I panic slightly. I couldn't let him know—the whole point was to get information and then leave quietly, not be found out._

"_Oh, well, it's…"_

_I tug at my earpiece, disconnecting myself in a hurry, and my disguise melts away, leaving me as Namina again. "Guys, help me," I whisper to my friends urgently. "Someone's about to find out I'm Nami, and I don't want that to happen. What do I do?"_

"_Tell him some random name, like Waffles," Tonima suggested. I roll my eyes, but connect myself back to my disguise._

"_Sorry, leader," I say as brightly as I could. "My system was disconnected…"_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever," he says, pushing it aside. "Her name?"_

"_Um…D—"_

"_Never mind. What guild is she in?"_

_I scratch my head. What was he up to?_

"_LethalAphex," I say, blurting out the name of my friend's guild._

"_Uh huh."_

"_Yup!" I chirp, now shaking slightly from nervousness._

"_Now tell me, about your real self, are you—"_

_I disconnect myself again, and as my real appearance comes back, I flip my dial to talk to Tonima. "Hey, help me out here!" I say, completely panicked. "He's still asking me questions!"_

_Tonima laughs. "Then just ignore him. Leave or something."_

_Deciding that Tonima wasn't going to help me at all, I sigh and re-connect myself to my disguise. "I'm sorry, leader," I say, now completely flustered. "My system is really acting up and—"_

"_Your real name is Namina, isn't it?"_

_I freeze. "Namina? Who's that?" I ask, keeping my voice calm._

"_Don't act like you don't know!" he announces in a superior tone. "Namina! The level forty-eight lightning mage in LoveLess! The same level as your real self!"_

"_Um…" I manage to say, pretending to pause to check something. "The rankings at the official headquarters say that she's level forty-nine."_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever," he mutters, waving that away. "But admit it!"_

"_What makes you think that my name is Namina?" I ask, my voice beginning to rise even higher._

"_Oh, please. I tracked her name down. Every time you disconnected, she was suddenly connected, and when you came back, she was off."_

_Curse him and his excellent thinking. "That's strange."_

"_That's not strange, that's you!" he practically screams, obviously frustrated. I could tell that the other guild members were extremely amused by this, from their occasional snickers._

"_What made you think I was her?"_

"_Well, I figured that with Martel's thinking, he'd send a spy after me to see how I was doing or something. How I operated. So I started tracking her when you'd say you were going back to your real self."_

_Curse him, his excellent thinking, and his strange way of seeming like he read people's minds. "So why did you pick the girl named Nami?"_

"_Well, I found it suspicious that you'd just ask me to recruit you out of the blue, since I didn't even know you."_

"_Plenty of people do that," I pointed out._

_He waved that away, too. "Besides, when you told me that your real self was in a guild, I figured you might have been a spy. Nami was the obvious choice."_

"_You never explained why," I commented, hoping to keep him explaining long enough for a distraction to hit him somehow._

"_Well, she—I mean, you—is really close to the guild leaders, and of course, you're a girl. Any guys would have simply come as guys."_

"_I'm sure there's more than one girl in that guild," I say. Curse him, his excellent thinking, his strange way of seeming like he read people's mind, _and_ his suspicions. How did he even come up with these ideas?_

"_Not any close enough to be a spy for them. Admit it, you're Nami!"_

"_Nami is in LethalAphex?"_

"_No!" he screams. "You're lying about LethalAphex!"_

_I giggle to myself. "All right, all right. So what about being Nami?"_

"_So you are Nami!"_

"_I never said that."_

"_Whatever."_

* * *

Now that I wasn't panicking in the moment anymore, I realized just how foolish we sounded, tossing words back and forth. I burst into a fit of giggles, earning strange looks from Ryu and Butta.

"Okay…" Ryu falls silent for a moment. "Well, at least it looked like it cheered you up."

I nod and smile, and Butta grins too, before the three of us hear a click. When I examine my register, I realize that it was Martel.

"What the—!" I turn the dial on my earpiece hurriedly. "Martel? Is that you?"

"Nami? Butta? Ryu? It's nice to see you all." His voice, which I had not heard in so long, sounded joyfully energetic as usual.

"Martel, I haven't seen you in so long!" I burst out, greatly excited.

"Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?" He pauses for a few seconds. "Nami, I need to talk to you right now. It's important."

"S-sure…" I stutter, suddenly nervous. Martel usually didn't talk so seriously—so what was the problem? On the messenger screen, I notice Butta nod, and I turn my attention to him.

"Well, I guess I'm out of here, so I'll be off training. See you guys later." As we both say a farewell, he taps the screen, his image disappearing, and Butta stands up next to me and smiles. "See you, Nami." I smile and wave, and watch him walk away before I turn my attention back to the messenger screen, sending an invitation to Martel.

Martel appears in the screen almost instantly, and smiles at the sight of me and Ryu. "Nami! You sure have changed—was I really gone for that long? Oh, and Ryu, I've been meaning to speak to you, too, so this is convenient."

"Martel, what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask, leaning towards the screen eagerly.

"Before I talk to you about it, Nami, I need to ask you an important question." He looks at me nervously, and I gaze back at him. "What do you think of Chi?"

I lean away from the screen, feeling a bit shocked. "Chi? I'm not sure, I haven't really—"

"Nami, you have to understand. If you're still loyal to Chi, I can't speak to you about anything. Do you prefer her over me?"

"Of course not!" I burst out, rather loudly. "I would never do that! I'd rather have you as a guild leader over her!"

"Good." He puts a forefinger to his chin. "Then I suppose you don't like Chi?"

"Well…I…" I think about her. The way that she made a new guild—at Majeh's suggestion. The way she deliberately set up the new order to accommodate all of her friends—but who wouldn't? The way that the guild was made because they didn't want a leader who was never there—and then she suddenly left as well…

"No…I guess I don't."

Martel seems to make a face I couldn't explain, but then he smiles. "Alright, at least I can trust you. At least, I think I do."

"What do you want to talk about?" I ask, eager to simply move on from my thoughts of Chi and concentrate on the matter at hand.

"It's about the guild. I need to know how to get everyone to come back so we can become a single guild again."

I nod, although I'm not sure if I understood correctly. "You need us to help you carry out your plan, or help you think of one?"

"Help me think of one, of course. And then carry it out. And don't forget, you can't tell anyone about this—not even Kai, if we don't know what she's thinking."

"Hey, you know, this reminds me of a game I've played before," Ryu interjects, and we both look at him confusedly. "The protagonist was like me, and Martel was like the guy's best friend! And we've got a whole bunch of people helping us—"

"Ryu, can we please talk about the topic at hand—" Martel tries to interrupt.

"And of course, Nami, you're in this too! I'd feel weird calling you the main female protagonist, because she and main guy get kinda close—" Ryu plows on.

"Is that so?" I ask, suddenly interested.

"Guys—" Martel says exasperatedly, but to no avail.

"Oh, you can be the other female person; she's a pretty good friend of the main hero—" Ryu continues, gesturing excitedly.

"Ryu, Nami, hello, we have to—"

"And you know what's weird? They always reference a play, and it's actually called LoveLess!" Ryu finishes, grinning.

"What?" I exclaim, completely amazed. "Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, it's really weird, isn't it—"

"_Guys!_"

Ryu and I look over to Martel, whose face is almost contorted from pure annoyance, and I blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, Martel."

Martel sighs in exasperation. "Look, forget about this messenger screen. Why don't we meet in the market or something?"

"Sounds good!" Ryu and I both chorus. "We'll meet you there!"

* * *

I enter the twenty-first room of the market, and I notice that Ryu is already there—interestingly enough, someone else is with him.

"Hawkins, I need you to leave," I could hear Ryu saying. "I have an important meeting to attend."

"Come on, leader, you promised me new equipment!" the other person was complaining. "Give it to me, please?"

"Hawkins…" Ryu was holding a finger to his temple now, obviously rather mad. "You have to leave, or you'll never get it!"

I laugh as I walk over to them, and they turn to me, startled. Hawkins sighs and turns towards the door. "Fine, leader, but you better give it to me later." He disappears through the portal.

I blink twice, staring at the portal. "Nice guild mates you have there."

Ryu just sighs and crosses his arms.

A few minutes later, Martel arrives, and Ryu and I greet him enthusiastically as we both climb up a ladder to reach a floating platform, and set up a few chairs to sit down comfortably.

"So…" I begin, looking down at my hands in my lap, "Do you even have any ideas for a plan?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Martel announces, and Ryu and I look up in confusion. "It's easy, guys. All we have to do is lure back all of the important people in their branch—and then, of course, the others will follow."

"The important people being—who, exactly?" Ryu asks, leaning forwards in his chair.

"That would be the base of that new branch—namely Majeh, Rain, Butta, and of course, Chi."

"Well, Chi's obviously going to take some time, seeing as she's the leader," I say, tilting my head. Martel nods his head in agreement, closing his eyes to think.

"I don't think Majeh will be that easy to get back, either, what with his…connection to Chi," Ryu comments, and we agree with him.

"So that leaves Rain—"

"Who just happens to be Chi's best friend," I interject.

"And Butta."

Ryu and I look at each other. "Well, Butta's probably the best link we've got," I say, leaning back in my chair. "After all, if he leaves, Rain will probably follow him, seeing how she is about Butta—"

"And then Chi and Majeh would have to come back after a while," Martel finishes, grinning. "So Butta's the perfect link. After all, he's the one that everyone really trusts."

Ryu and I nod in agreement, and smile. "So that's our plan, then?"

"Right," Martel confirms, nodding slowly. "So then…How exactly do we get him back?"

"Well, if I just explain the situation to him, I'm sure he'll come back," Ryu suggests. "He's still friends with all of us, right? That proves that he's just against us." Martel nods again to agree with this.

"And then Rain would follow him, and we could get some information out of her…The only real problem is Majeh."

"And he really _is_ a real problem…" I sigh, placing a finger to my chin. "He's practically obsessed with her."

"Well, then, that's simple," Martel says, sitting up straighter. "All we have to do is get his mind off of Chi and onto something else."

"Like what?" Ryu and I chorus.

"Hmm…" He leans back again, apparently deep in thought. "Well…Nami…"

"Yes…?" I ask, suddenly worried.

"It wouldn't be for real…just an act…" He taps his chin with his forefinger. "If I explained it, I don't think Ichi would mind…"

"What about Ichi?" I interject, looking at Ryu worriedly. Ryu shrugs, apparently as confused as I was.

Martel leans forward again, a smirk slowly appearing on his face. "All you have to do is seduce Majeh."

The effect was immediate. I jump out of my chair, knocking it over, and yell in shock and disbelief, and Ryu raises an eyebrow, apparently too shocked to do anything else. "She has to do what?"

"Guys, I don't think it's as bad as it sounds—"

"I have to do _what_?!" I shriek loudly, startling Martel and Ryu. Thank the Goddess that this room was otherwise empty.

"Nami, calm down!" Martel says hurriedly. "It shouldn't be that hard, since you already know him—"

"But I can't do that!" I interrupt, my voice still carrying across the room from my disbelief.

"I'll tell Ichi what your orders were—"

"I wasn't talking about him," I snap, flushing in embarrassment. "Besides, I have no idea _how_ to do what you just said."

"Martel," Ryu interrupts quickly, "I don't think that plan would be efficient, either. You know how highly he thinks of Chi—we have no idea how long this could take."

Martel sighs and leans back in his chair again. "I suppose you're right. We'll have to think of a new plan." Thank you, Ryu. You have just saved me from the possibility of being forced to go into hiding for the rest of my life.

We sit in silence together, trying—and failing—to come up with a new plan. Martel sighs after a lengthy amount of time, and gets up from his chair. "Well, I'm going to take a break. I'll be back later, alright?" Before Ryu or I can respond, he's already headed out the door.

Ryu and I look at each other and shrug simultaneously. We wait for a few minutes, while Ryu recites a few lines from his game—I'll admit, it sure sounded a bit like our problem—and I finally get up and stretch. Ryu looks at me. "Going somewhere, Nami?"

"For a walk," I say, yawning. "Tell me if he comes back." Ryu nods, so I jump into the portal and head out the door. Outside was a person I was definitely _not _expecting to see.

It was Rain. Seeing me tilt my head to stare at her confusedly, Rain flushes in embarrassment and waves her hands in front of herself frantically. "Oh, hey, Nami!" she chirps, her voice a bit too high to be normal. Her hair, which had been dyed black and tied into long, straight pigtails, waves from side to side as she looks around at our surroundings. "What a surprise! It wasn't like I felt like following you because I was bored…"

I raise an eyebrow, but I shrug it off, and then realize something. "Rain, why don't you come inside with me?"

Rain looks confused, but she agrees and follows me back into the room. Ryu looks up at the sound of us entering, and upon seeing Rain, he raises an eyebrow again.

"Ryu, I found Rain right outside the door," I say brightly. "Isn't that weird?"

Ryu nods. "Nice to see you, Rain."

"Uh…Nice to see you, too…" Rain says, rather awkwardly for a person such as herself. I shuffle closer to Ryu.

"Ryu," I whisper, "I don't even know why I brought her here, but do you think we could ask her anything?"

Ryu looks at me, apparently confused again. "How?"

I shrug, and we both sigh. Ryu turns to Rain. "So, Rain, tell me, how's the guild doing?"

"Well, we're alright, I guess," she says, looking around nervously. "Couldn't you just ask Nami that question?"

"Well, excuse me for trying to be friendly," Ryu says sarcastically, and I stifle a laugh. I suddenly hear a sound from the portal, and we all turn around to see Martel enter again.

"Oh, hey guys, what's—" Martel takes one look at Rain, then turns back to us, raising an eyebrow. Both of us shrug.

"Rain," Martel suddenly says in a sort of voice usually reserved for announcements, "tell me, are you guys ever going to disband your guild? We are both back now, after all—and isn't that the only reason why you left?"

Rain shakes her head, and I thought I might have seen a hint of annoyance flicker across her face, but that was probably just because I blinked. "Sorry, Martel. I'm not in charge, so I can't decide that."

"Just tell Chi to disband, then," Martel snaps. "You're her best friend, aren't you?"

Rain shrugs. "She won't listen. She'll only disband if Majeh tells her to."

"Well, then," I say in a soft voice, "Why can't Chi disband if she wants to do it herself?"

Rain shakes her head again. "Chi might be the leader of the guild, but she's not the true boss—Majeh is."

Martel, Ryu, and I all look at each other at this information, and then turn back to Rain. "If Majeh is the true leader," I ask, "Then why didn't he lead the guild himself?"

"Because Chi wanted to be the leader," Rain replied, placing her forefinger on the side of her chin and tilting her head. "And Majeh let her, because he loves her, you know?"

The three of us exchange looks again, and I nod slightly. "It was nice seeing you again, Rain," I say as I give her a friendly smile. "It's time for me to head off, though—I have to get some sleep or I won't be able to move tomorrow."

Rain smiles back. "Alright, then, see you all!" She jumps and dashes straight out of the room, her pigtails trailing after her. After watching her disappear, I turn back to Ryu and Martel, and shrug. We say our farewells, and I begin to walk slowly out of the market until I am stopped by something I suddenly remember. I turn to Martel, and after only a slight hesitation, I pull my notebook out of my bag and push it into Martel's hands.

"Nami? What's this?"

"It's my records of…the past," I say, meeting his gaze with my crimson eyes. "Read it so you know where I stand. Just in case, if you have time." And then I walk away—walking mindlessly, one foot in front of the other, until I am standing alone in front of my house again in the village, looking up to see the final remnants of sunlight disappearing behind the horizon. Above me, the moon has already appeared, a silver crescent hovering in the darkening sky.

I was going to return to LoveLess. The meeting with Ryu and Martel had made up my mind. I was going to leave the new branch behind, regardless of the people that I would be leaving, and actually _do something _for once. I wasn't just going to sit uselessly on the side.

The only question was, how was I going to begin…?


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello, this is NamiLoveLess with another chapter for you all to read and enjoy (and possibly become depressed, because of my strange angst rants, or something like that). I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed and raised my spirits—six reviews for one chapter! That's a record for me (maybe not for you writing geniuses, but for me, yes ^-^), and it really made me happy. Haha, I'm pathetic. So I'd like to reply now:

To martelswrath: Haha, you always review so quickly. Here's the next installment for you!

To Randomness from Boredom: I found it interesting that you mentioned my writing about Soriena as it not looking weird—I never really focused too much on it, just on the aspect of her being a different person, and I'm surprised that you actually didn't find it weird. Made me strangely happy. But of course, it doesn't matter if you don't play Bera much; we'll always be glad to keep you in and help you out however we can. So no worries about the space issue—we've got 100 now, don't forget. X3

To CrapPishh: I would absolutely _love _to hear your experience if you ever remember it. Real-life stories are always so interesting. Thanks for reviewing!

To HonestNinja123: Wow, this story was something deep? It wasn't just an angst-ridden emo-rant? That makes me feel relieved, somehow…And aren't you one of the people that favorited Gems of Advent? I think I remember your name. XD But thank you very much for reviewing, anyway.

To charchar4lyfe: Seeing how you didn't even read the story, I don't know if you'd even see this reply (and I sent you a review reply anyway for that reason), but I wanted to thank you just in case anyway. Your review, despite you saying that you didn't like the mood and didn't read the story, still had comments that were very helpful, and I appreciated it very much.

To Zekru: -spews water- You read this? So many guildies are showing up here, reading this~! It makes me wonder how you guys all know about it, since I don't tell a lot of you about this XD But I'm amazed that you read this all in one sitting, until that early in the morning _ But thank you so much for the review! It made my day. :D

To Nicole—Hey Nikki! :D Thanks for reviewing—I notice you have a fanfiction account, now? Thanks for adding me for your favorites, by the way. But yes, long live LoveLess! -cheers- And if this were a story that was put up after heavy editing of the entirety, I would add it in, but then I'd have to change, like, Chapter 1, and then add a bit once in a while to change the rest, so yeah. Hope to see some of your own stories here soon!

Well, that's done. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always, I appreciate all comments. Oh, and another thing to note: I would like you to please vote in the poll I set up in my profile. It says that I'm asking you who interests you the most, but I don't mean the bog-standard "who is your favorite" type of question…I really mean that, whose side would you be on? Or if you wanted to say it another way, whose perspective do you think you would understand and connect to the most—like whose story you'd like to hear the most? I'm very bad at explaining this sort of thing, so if you don't understand, I'm sorry D: But thank you in advance if you guys vote. I'm pretty curious about how the story looks from the eyes of people who aren't involved.

Anyway, if I'm correct in guessing the story length, we're about halfway through this. The later half of the story moves a lot faster, too, so expect to have truckloads of information dumped at you. You can comment if you see any inconsistencies (I seem to have those a lot) and other things. They're all appreciated! X3

Almost forgot. Happy late Thanksgiving, all. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina or Soriena, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

_Namina._

I groan and sit up slowly in my bed, my eyelashes fluttering as I blink to try and focus. "Wha…?"

_Namina._

"What is it…?" I mutter irritably. I look up to gaze out of the window, and see nothing but the grayish-blue color of the sky, with thin clouds stretching across its expanse. '_It's not even morning yet…_'

_Namina. I need to speak to you._

"Soriena…" I mumble drowsily, lying down again and closing my eyes. '_Let me go back to sleep…I'll talk to you later…_'

_No. Now._

I suddenly feel a whirl of warm air enveloping me—not unlike the times when I alter my form into Soriena's—and when I open my eyes, I am floating in midair, my feet finding nothing to stand on. Around me, there is nothing but iridescent lights against darkness, as though I had found myself inside an _aurora borealis_.

A brief flash of lights catches my attention, and I turn towards it to see a familiar figure appear before me.

"Soriena." I move—in a strange way, as though I were gliding—towards her. "What do you want? Where are we?"

"In the abyss of dreams, sister Nami," she replies, as though this were obvious. "I need to speak to you about your thoughts."

"What about my thoughts?" I ask, gliding backwards instinctively. "Did you read my mind? You can't invade my privacy!"

She gives a hollow laugh. "Sister Nami, I virtually _am _your mind. Ever since I have let you borrow my existence, your thoughts have invaded _me_. There is no such thing as privacy between you and me."

"Well, if you already know what I think, what do you want?" I snap irritably, still annoyed from my lack of sleep.

"Sister Nami, how do you plan to return to LoveLess?" she asks me, her voice still nothing more than a whisper. "Do you simply plan on asking someone to bring you back from this branch?"

I am stunned at how well my thoughts had been read by her—this shell of a girl that seemed as though she had only been born to be involved in this problem with me. "So what if I am?" I counter, crossing my arms. "All I have to do is tell Nyan to invite me back after I leave a post in the new branch's headquarters."

"What has happened to your worries of abandoning your friends, then?" she asks, staring right into my eyes with her own, black ones. "Do you no longer care about them? Are they no longer important?"

"They're still important!" I say, trying to stomp my foot with no success. "I don't want people to constantly tell me about people I'd be leaving behind! It's impossible to keep everyone with you! I'll just have them on my friends channel, and I can still—"

"If it is simply that easy, why would you not do the same for Nyan and Martel?" she replies, her eyes still boring into mine. "Are they really so much more important to you?"

"They're all equally important, if you tear it down to the basics," I manage to say while staring back at her. "It's just that…I think that it matters where I am to those two more than Chi and Majeh."

"You think that you are doing them a favor by simply being with them?" She looks at me, making me feel as though my eyes were holding all of my thoughts, readable right on the surfaces of my crimson irises. "Do you honestly think that leaving one branch for another is good enough for the two of them?"

"Yes," I mutter.

"What was that, sister Nami?"

"I said yes!" I snap. Soriena curves her mouth in what would have been a smirk on any other person.

"Sister Nami, I thought you had the potential to have some common sense. Clearly, I was wrong." Her curved mouth abruptly turns downward, and her eyes narrow, her gaze intensifying. "Think harder, sister Nami. They will know that you still care. Chi and Majeh will know that you are not loyal to them. You will have to pick a side, and I do not mean picking a branch to belong to. You cannot think that hovering in the center will solve _any_ of your problems. Stop being an angst-ridden, self-absorbed brat!"

"_Shut up!"_

Soriena moves away from me in a flash, but her eyes widen slightly, eyebrows raised. "Did you say something?"

"_I said shut up!_" I fly towards her and, out of desperation, swing my staff at her, but she blocks it with her own with ease. My face is starting to feel hot and itchy, and my vision is blurring, but I still slash at her blindly. "You don't know anything! I don't care if you've been in my mind for all this time—you've hardly done anything except invade my own space! You don't understand how much I suffer from this—every single day, agonizing over whether or not to leave!"

"Sister Nami—"

"And when I finally decide that I have the guts to actually leave and be with Nyan and Martel, you have to go and scream at me for not being helpful enough! As if you can actually do something more useful than to tell somebody to be you in their place! It doesn't even matter that you're a part of me; you don't feel anything towards _anyone_. _Why should I bother listening to you if you're nothing more than an empty shell?!_"

Soriena freezes. My screaming echoes around us, but apart from that, everything is still and eerily silent, sending chills down my spine. She drops her arm down to hang limply by her side, staff loosely in hand. "Very well, sister Nami."

"Very well, what…?" I ask, scratching my head. She extends her arm out towards me, and I suddenly collapse, clutching my head with both hands. "Soriena, what—?!"

"I am withdrawing my presence from your clip, and consequently your mind. I will not bother speaking to you anymore. You are now free to think and act as you please."

"Wait, Soriena—" Barely able to lift my head to look at her, I try to stretch my hand out to her, but another stab of pain renders me helpless. "I didn't mean—" I couldn't let her go at a time like this. I didn't mean it, honestly…I can't—

"Farewell."

* * *

A sharp pain explodes on my side, and my eyelids fly open as I cry out, instinctively putting my hands to my side—but I realize am lying on the wooden floor of my bedroom. I blink and turn over to face the wooden frame of my bed, realizing that I must have just fallen out of it, but I continue to lay there, eyes facing the bed but concentrating on nothing.

It couldn't have been a dream—everything was too vivid: the visions, Soriena's voice, and the stabbing pains that were still persistently giving me a headache. But she couldn't be gone; I still needed her before I crossed back over to the old branch. She must have been threatening me…. I try to reach out with my mind, and tentatively call out, '_Soriena?_'

There is no reply, save for another stab of pain that makes me wince. I let out my breath slowly. '_Soriena…_'

Quickly donning my clothing, I grab my staff and walk out the door, breathing in the crisp, morning air as I walk into the heart of town, and take a ride up to the top of the toy factory, where I can look out at the entire town, above the tops of the trees. Because it was so early in the morning, there was almost no one outside, and I enjoy the silence as I rest my arms on the steel railing, a few wisps of my hair stroking my cheek gently.

I was going to rejoin LoveLess; that much I knew. I was going to make sure that I wasn't going to leave friends behind, either; that much I knew as well. What I still needed to figure out was how I was going to leave. Would I slip away silently into the shadows, as Majeh and Chi had done? Or would I leave while everyone else was present, giving me a chance to show them how much they had hurt me?

I frowned. Why was I even thinking about something so trivial? The whole reason for leaving was so that I could please my true leaders, and defend them from any more hurt I could cause. Was it really necessary for me to think about how I could hurt the other branch by helping the original one?

I knew what my answer would truthfully be, but I try to push it out of my mind. All I had to do was make sure that I would keep in contact with everyone that mattered. I could fade away from existence in the minds of Majeh, Chi, or Rain—honestly, I couldn't care less if they hated me at this point; all it would mean would be that the feeling could at least be mutual. Now all I had to do was—

"Nami? I didn't know you were awake this early. What's going on?"

I whirl around to face a cleric with wildly azure hair and eyes of the same color—who is wearing what looks like a red pajama set, matching hat and all—and recognize her as a guild mate instantly. "Stella! What are you doing here?"

She motions to the area around us. "I was going to get together with a few people, maybe get some extra cash—what about you? Are you up for a few Party Quests, too?"

I shake my head, but I pull out a piece of paper and scribble my name onto it, offering it to her. She stares at it blankly. "A friend request?" I nod silently, and she still stares at it quizzically, but takes my hand, giving it a firm shake before she releases my hand, now clutching the paper tightly in her own hand.

"Thanks, Nami…I guess…. It's a bit spontaneous, but I'm not complaining!" She laughs and smiles at me, twirling once before she disappears. I smile at the spot where she used to be standing, even though no one is around anymore to see that brief moment of happiness.

Just a few more days.

* * *

"Yo, Nami! What's up?"

I laugh in response to this sudden greeting—a chorus of them, actually, from many of the guild mates. Even though the late evening crowd was small, it was still friendly. "I'm good, Matt. How are you?"

"Meh, I'm good," he replies, before changing the subject to argue with another guild mate about different types of weapons. I check my friends register, and beam at the sight of Ichigono's name; Sissy greets me as well, and I reply cheerfully, talking to her about general topics as I make my way to the guild headquarters. I look around, scanning the room—a few other people are in the main hall, socializing or observing various posts on the walls and bulletin boards. Some look over at my direction and smile, waving to me, and I wave back as I walk over to the main bulletin boards.

I quickly scan over the posts, looking for any recent news, but when I see none, I sigh, and take a pen and a sheet of paper from the desk beside it. I lower the pen down to the paper to begin a note, but a voice interrupts me before I can do so.

"Nami, haven't seen you in a while! How's your life?"

"Nyan!" I turn my earpiece dial to the right channel, and press my finger against it eagerly. "I've been doing well, I suppose. And you?"

"I'm doing the same as usual. You know what would make my day better, though?" he asks pointedly. I groan playfully, and he laughs in response. "So, will you?"

After a hesitation, I press on the earpiece again. "Yes. I'll do it." The sentence almost shocked me, considering how little I had thought about it—but then again, I'd been thinking about this for weeks now, hadn't I?

"Well, that's…excellent," he says, sounding rather shocked as well. "Just tell me when you're ready." I make a sound in agreement, and then turn my attention back to the paper, scribbling down my thoughts. I had difficulty writing about leaving, at first, but it slowly became easier, and I began to write about as much as I could fit—about my happiness in my memories of them, and my feeling of sorrow for leaving the guild, but also about how I had no regrets. I signed the paper slowly and pinned it up on the boards, and then walked to the door and opened it.

Standing in front of me was Nyan. I blink a few times, and open my mouth, but he laughs. "I tracked you down, Nami."

"Oh," is all I can say, closing my mouth again. I lean my staff on the door to hold it open. "I'm ready."

Nyan clears his throat. "Invitation, please."

I reach into my pocket and pull out the crumpled envelope, with that lettering that was so familiar, so similar to the one Nyan had, but so different with just a few letters. I turn back to face the inside of the guild hall, and smile wryly at them. "This is goodbye."

The few who had been close enough to hear my voice turned around to see me tear the invitation apart viciously, the enchantment bonding me to them breaking. The edges of the envelope where I had torn it were already burning, ashes flying into the sky with every second. Now everyone in the guild hall knows about it, I can see, because they all look towards the door, their faces frozen in shock; I only smile and wave at them before the guild hall disappears from my sight, my staff clattering to the floor.

My smile vanishes, and I turn to Nyan to see him already offering me an invitation. I take it without hesitation, and the same emblem appears on my robe for the third time since I joined LoveLess. Another building appears in the same spot that the new branch's guild hall had been, and instantly, I hear a chorus of greetings, no doubt from people I knew before.

"Nami!" Liz shrieks. "I haven't seen you in so long! Did you actually return to LoveLess?"

I laugh, smiling at Nyan, and reply, "Yeah, and I'm here to stay. I won't leave again, ever, and that's—"

"Did something happen, Nami?" Ichi demanded, interrupting me. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

I laugh again. "No, Ichi, nothing happened. I just decided I was too sick and tired of the drama, so I came here."

"What drama?" a Bishop cut in. "Something going on?"

"Oh, no," I reply hastily, "It's just a thing between guilds—"

"So you don't have to worry yourself over it—" Liz interrupted.

"And it's really not something we all like to discuss," Nyan continued.

"So please, it'd be nice if you don't mention it at all anymore," Liz finished, laughing. The Bishop seemed thoroughly confused, but he seemed to understand, because he just made a sound of agreement and fell silent again. Nyan shifts and I turn my attention to him, looking up to see his smile.

"Well, Nami, that's all done and over with. I guess you can finally relax and—"

"Nami! _Nami!_ Why did you leave?! I was so worried!"

I look over Nyan's shoulder, and he turns around to see the source of the voice, which turns out to be Sissy. She runs right up to me, then stops, panting as she rests her hands on her knees. She looks up, still breathing heavily, and I notice that her eyes look rather watery. "Nami, why did you leave?"

I open and close my mouth wordlessly, unable to think of anything to say. "I-I…I wrote it…o-on the boards," I manage to stutter. "You can read why there." She frowns, but nods and walks into nothingness. A few minutes later, she returns, and gives me a hug.

"Sissy?"

"It's okay," she mumbles. "Just don't leave us forever." I nod slowly, and she releases me, taking a step back.

"Well, then…" she sniffs. "I suppose I won't see you in the guild anymore, so don't forget to talk to me in the friends' channel, alright?" I smile and nod again, giving her a final wave before she turns around and walks away.

After staring into space for a few minutes, I turn back to Nyan. "Well, I suppose I'm back now." He nods.

"That's all I need for now."

I nod and wipe my sleeve across my eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

I shake my head, and I look up and give him a smile. "Nothing's wrong." He answers my smile with one of his own, and rests his hand on my shoulder comfortingly, before he bids farewell to me and begins to walk away. I look after him dumbly, unable to do anything else but wipe my sleeve across my eyes again. Nothing was wrong, really.

Nothing at all.

* * *

"Nami…"

I yawn, and stretch my arms up to the sky, hardly even noticing the voice coming from my earpiece.

"Naaami…" the voice continued, stretching out into a whine.

I blink slowly, and groggily press my finger to my earpiece. "What is it, Dan?"

"I miss you!" he exclaims, adding a soft "Hmph!" as an afterthought. "How are you, beautiful?"

I roll my eyes. Leave it to one of the biggest flirts I knew to say something like that. It was something else to be grateful for—he had joined LoveLess only a short time before me, and now that I was gone, I only had to put up with him in one channel. Of course, he was still tolerable, and it was actually enjoyable to argue with him, despite how it may have seemed to others. "I'm fine, Dan."

"I love you!"

"The feeling is mutual." I say flatly, but he doesn't seem to notice the tone.

"That's great, Nami!" he says, laughing cheerfully. "But you know what would make my day even better?"

"What is it?"

"If you come back to LoveLess…" he sighs mournfully. I can hear a scraping noise from my earpiece, as though he was propping up his head on his hand. "It's _so_ boring nowadays. It's so quiet, and there's no one that talks to me, and no one will reply when I say I love them, and most of them just train, and—"

"What about Kai?" I interrupt—his rants could go on endlessly if he wanted to do so. "I thought you talk to her?"

"Well, _yeah,_ but it's _really _boring!" he complains, rather petulantly. "She's only one person!"

"So am I."

"Yeah, but you _talk_! A lot!" He gives an exaggerated sigh. "Why did you even leave, anyway? I thought you loved LoveLess."

"I have my reasons, Dan. I'm not coming back."

"But we all miss you! All of us, really! We always talk about how we wish you were still here with us!"

I make a sound of agreement, although my mind is only paying partial attention. The bandit was probably just lying, considering the way he talked to so many other girls. "I'm sure."

"So will you come back?" he repeats hopefully.

"No, Dan."

He sighs again rather dramatically. "Are you sure?" he whimpers. "We all just want to see you again!"

"Track me down if you want to see me that badly, Dan."

"Fine…" he grumbles, although he unsuccessfully tries to cover up a laugh. "I'll get you back one day, I swear!"

"Looking forward to it, Dan," I reply cheerfully, smiling to nobody in particular.

"I love you!"

"The feeling is mutual."

* * *

I drum my fingers impatiently on the railing of the terrace, looking out at the cloudy, dismal sky. It was now the sixth day since my departure back to the original LoveLess. I hear the voices of old guild members—Butta and SJB, to be exact—speaking in the friends channel, but I am not involved in the conversation. Instead, I hear the name of Jace.

"Who's Jace?" I say, turning my dial to ask my friends in general.

"Oh, she's just a guild member, Nami," was the short reply from Butta. I scratch my head.

"A guild member? I don't remember meeting anyone called Jace."

"That's because she's new," Butta explained. "She joined a day or so after you left."

"I…see."

"She's really nice, Nami. You'd love her," the White Knight continued.

"Really? What's she like, exactly?" I ask, my interest piqued by this unknown girl.

But there is no response from either of them. They are too involved in their conversation with this Jace, and my voice goes unheard. I repeat my question, but there is still no answer. My shoulders slump.

A few minutes later, I finally get a reply. "She's really friendly."

I perk up instantly, pressing to my earpiece. "Is that so, SJB? That sounds nice."

"She is. She talks a lot. You two would probably be great friends." And then he says nothing more on the subject, talking to Jace again.

"I…" is all I say, before I realize that no one is paying attention. I lean on the railing, and sigh. My eyes start to become blurry.

No. I shake my head, and my eyesight clears again. No more tears. I had had enough of being that _brat_ that Soriena had described me as. I had to stop acting like such a child.

But somehow, some of that childishness still remains in me, developing a hatred for this Jace girl—someone I had never even met, much less even talked to. Why was I so angry at this person? I didn't even know what she sounded like!

Why did I feel this hatred? Was I _jealous_ of her? Jealous that she was so popular in such little time, and the fact that I didn't even know what was going on inside the new branch anymore? I shook my head. I had to stop being so selfish!

A memory comes unbidden to my mind, and I let my consciousness be surrounded by it. Anything was better than the thoughts I was thinking of at the moment. Anything was enough to distract me…

* * *

"_Nami, I'd like you to meet Diana. She's someone I met in the market, when I was trying to sell something."_

_I wave to the girl in front of me, a very pretty teen with long, dark, curly hair that was held back by a headband. Her blue eyes, which were concentrated on me, gave her a look of someone who was most definitely social. "It's very nice to meet you, Diana. I'm Nami."_

"_Nami," she repeats, smiling. Even her voice sounded pretty. "That's a wonderful name."_

"_T-Thank you," I stutter, blushing. She smiles again at the one who introduced her to me._

"_So, this is your friend, huh? Fire says the two of you are _very _close," Diana says, winking at the word "very". I nod._

"_Well, I'm glad to meet all of Fire's friends. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you later!" She gives me another smile, and Fire smiles at me too, bringing a blush to my cheeks before they walk away._

_-0-_

"_Hi, Fire!" I say, noticing that he connected to the network._

"_Oh, hey Nami," was his answer, before he continued, "Diana! I'm so happy to see you!"_

_He keeps talking to her excitedly, repeatedly exclaiming how happy he was, and I smile sadly as I listen to his half of the conversation. I twist a silver band—a gift from Fire—around my finger, and I sigh. He did not notice._

_-0-_

"_Hi, Fire…"_

_There is no response from him this time. It has been one month since I had met Diana._

"_Fire?"_

"_Diana, you make me so happy! Sometimes I wonder how I would have managed if I had never met you."_

"_Oh, I'm so happy that I know you too, Fire," I hear her reply, giggling._

_I remove my earpiece and put it on my bedside table, before I lower my eyes to the ground, and a single tear falls to the floor._

_-0-_

"_Nami…"_

"_What is it, Fire?" I ask, smiling up at him._

"_I…" he hesitates. "Do you remember that ring I gave you?"_

"_Yes, for our friendship, right?" I reply, holding up my hand to show him. He nods slowly, his eyes somber._

"_Nami, I'm sorry."_

"_For what?" I ask him, tilting my head in confusion._

"_I…I'm going to have to ask to take it back. I…Diana and I…I'm sorry, Nami. It's just…the way I feel…" He looks down at the floor, his face flushing. "I'm really sorry…I really am."_

"_Oh." I remove the ring from my finger, reach out to hold his hand up to me, and place the ring into his palm. He looks at me._

"_Are you okay, Nami?"  
_

"_I'm fine," I reply, smiling._

"_We'll still be just friends, right, Nami?"_

"_Of course!" I laugh, and he hugs me._

"_I promise, Nami. I'll never stop being your friend."_

_-0-_

"_Good morning, Diana."_

"_I…"_

_I stop, my hand held up to my earpiece, puzzled at the lack of an answer. "Diana?"_

"_I…I'm sorry…Everyone…I can't talk to you all right now…I just need to talk to whoever…"_

"_Whoever what?" I ask, frowning._

"_Whoever can find me. Please…Good luck."_

_The frown never leaves my face, but instinctively, I turn away from my house and run towards the factory._

_Sure enough, I find her on the terrace, facing out towards the landscape. I walk up to her quietly and tap her shoulder gently. She turns to me, and I see a glimpse of a weak smile before she breaks down in tears._

_She cries like this for ten minutes as I can do nothing but sit next to her helplessly, allowing her to hold onto me as her tears stained my gown. She finally begins to recover, though, after she wipes her hands across her eyes and stops hiccupping. She smiles at me tearfully, and then turns away to look up at the sky._

"_Diana?"_

"_Fire's gone."_

_It was all she had to say, and both of us understood everything with those two words. She blinks rapidly, her eyes still concentrated on the sky. "Nami, I want to tell you something that I heard once, because I liked it, and I think you should hear it, too."_

_I look up from the floor, where I had been staring to avoid looking at her tears, and blink twice. "What's that?"_

"_Friends are like balloons," she said. "Once you let them go, you can never get them back, so tie them close to your heart." _

_I look away from her face to stare at the sky. "That's really nice."_

"_It is." She moves her eyes away from the sky, and looks at me with a smile. "I tied your string really tight, Nami."_

_I nod dumbly._

"_Did you tie mine?"_

_I nod again. Her smile does not disappear._

"_Thanks, Nami. I knew you were a real friend."_

_It wasn't true._

_I wasn't her friend._

_I _hated _her._

_I hated what she stood for. Everything that she took away from me. I hated how he made her forget me. How he just threw me away like some trash. I hated how she was my replacement._

_I hated _everything _about her…!_

_

* * *

_

I fall to my knees, looking up at that dismal sky, hoping for something, _anything_, to take my pain away, but there is nothing, and I look down again. My throat feels choked, suddenly, and I cannot stop shaking, no matter how hard I try.

I wouldn't be abandoned the way I had been before. My guild mates were probably just getting to know a new friend better. They hadn't forgotten about me. Why was I so scared? Was I that dependent on others? There was no way that something so terrifying could possibly happen again.

But it was all right in front of me, taunting me, knowing my fear of it. I whimper, hugging myself, but the fear of it is taking control of my entire being, and I scream, my voice echoing out across the landscape in front of me. I collapse to the ground, my throat still horribly choked, and I was able to do nothing but shake as the tears began to fall, blurring everything.

I couldn't let myself think like this.

I couldn't be forgotten.

I couldn't let this happen again…


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey, everyone, NamiLoveLess here! This was a fast update, wasn't it…? XD Wow, I hope the quality of this chapter isn't too bad, but I just wanted to get another chapter out for the holidays as a little gift for you guys. :D A strange, unorthodox gift, but a gift nonetheless. Which probably means the next chapter will take a while to release, but that's being ignored for now. Now, for those usual replies…

To CrapPishh: It would be awesome if you remembered, but on second thought, it would be just as well if you never did. Guild drama's one of those things where you just want to throw the idea out of a window, am I right? XD But thank you for the comment on conflict; it was something I never really noticed, just more of a "this story is not about cool fight scenes, so it's got to have some intense dialogue" kind of thing. Does that even make sense? I really did work on the "show, don't tell" concept, though. It really is tough to get a hang of. Oh, no, I just told you that, not showed you, didn't I…? XD But thank you for the review! It really makes me think about what I write. :D

To martelswrath: Awww, I'm so touched. I'm glad you love these chapters so much—after all, they were written partially for you. I hope you enjoy this little gift of a chapter. :D

Only two reviews, which is a bit low compared to the last chapter, but I won't complain. At least it's not zero. Yay for pointless optimism! Enjoy the chapter, and Happy Holidays to you all! The story is slowly inching towards its end…

Ooh, and if you must know, the conversation between Nami and Butta was partially imagined, because I honestly can't remember most of it, so I apologize to any guildies if what really happened was _way_ off. All the events did happen, but it might not have happened exactly the way I remember. A lot of this seems to start becoming overdramatic and rushed, too…Ah, well…

Once again, Happy Holidays~!

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina or Soriena, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

A sigh escapes my lips.

I am sitting in the market, polishing the top of my staff with a cloth absentmindedly. It has been two weeks since my return to the old LoveLess. In that time, I had not been in contact with many of the old guild mates, and I had not been able to create friendships with any of the new ones, due to the fact that most were simply in LoveLess for the sake of a guild name as they trained.

The silence was a constant annoyance, and one of my only comforts is my hobby of Party Questing in the Ludibrium Maze, meeting new people there for temporary friendships. Kai had given me news of the new branch periodically, but she was upset by my absence, I could tell. For the most part, she would treat me as though I had never left, but at the same time, she had begun to talk incessantly about all of the exciting events in the new branch, as though she was to entice me back.

The old guild mates, on the other hand, were suddenly rather silent on the friends' channel. I only heard their greetings to me, and a question or two, but apart from that, I never heard their voices. Presumably, they preferred the guild channel—where Jace was, if I might say so, albeit rather bitterly.

Admiring the shine that the ruby orb on the top of my staff now gave off, I tuck the cleaning cloth away in my bag, and stand up. At the same time, I see a figure appearing in the swirl of lights, and I walk closer to it.

It was Stella. She runs to me as quickly as she can, nearly knocking me over as she buries her face into my shoulder, sobbing. My eyes widen.

"Stella, what's wrong?"

"Nami," she says, her voice nearly unintelligible between her sobs, "please, come back…I can't take it anymore…"

My eyes close, and I pat her back rather awkwardly. "I can't, Stella. I made a promise to my leaders; I won't come back to the new LoveLess."

She looks up at me, her eyes unusually bright. "Invite me to the old LoveLess, then."

I step back—or at least, I attempt to do so. "Why? I thought you cared about the guild. I'm just one person."

"But…" She breaks down again, clutching to me more tightly. "No one ever says anything other than 'Hello' to me. You actually held conversations with me. You made me feel like I was actually in a guild, not just a group of people who happened to all wear the same emblem. I don't want to be there anymore...!"

I smile sadly, and gently break her hold on me as I step away again. She gives me a confused look.

"Are you…not able to invite me?" She wipes at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I…didn't mean to trouble you."

I shake my head, and pull out an invitation from my bag, holding it up to show her. "Are you sure, though? You probably won't be able to return to the LoveLess you're in now after you join."

"I don't care," she says, already in the process of ripping her invitation apart. She hastily makes a grab for the one in my hand, and smiles as the emblem appears on her clothing, a click sounding in my earpiece as she joins. She hugs me. "Thank you, Nami."

A smile, very similar to the one Stella wears, appears on my face. "You're welcome."

* * *

"Nami. Are you there?"

I blink in surprise, and press on my earpiece. "I'm here, Nyan. Were you saying something?"

"No, no, I didn't say anything yet. Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you."

I look around at the swarm of monsters charging towards me, and wave my staff, a shower of sparks flying down to obliterate the beasts. I climb up to a platform and pull out my chair, sighing in relief at the comfort as my staff falls gently to the floor with a soft clattering noise. "I'm not busy now—just killing time here. Do you need something?"

"I read those records of yours. So did Martel."

My eyes widen temporarily. "Oh, did you? I nearly forgot about that. Do you still have my notebook?"

"No, I left it in the headquarters in your member room, but that's not important." I hear another click, and his voice crackles through my earpiece again in a whisper. "I need to talk to you about it."

"Why…?" I narrow my eyes for a second, but relax them again quickly. He would not be mad with me—the records had clearly been in his favor. At least, I hoped he was not displeased with what he had read…

Nyan clears his throat—a habit that he shares with his brother, I've noticed—and sighs. "Like I said before, Martel and I had read it, and we both drew our own conclusions on your loyalties. We discussed them with each other, of course, and Martel made a decision concerning your future in LoveLess."

"My future?"

"Yes, your future. We don't know if you were faking something in the records, or if you changed your mind since you wrote it…"

I cross my fingers and whisper a prayer to myself. He could not possibly mean that they had thought me a traitor…

"And Martel said that he hopes he won't regret this decision, Nami."

Oh, Goddess, no. Please, don't say what I dread you will, Nyan. Please don't consider me a traitor. Everything I had ever done was…

"We're making you third-in-command of LoveLess."

I froze.

"…Nami?"

Had Nyan said my name? I couldn't hear anything clearly anymore; my thoughts begin whirling inside my head, rising into a roar that muffled my hearing.

"Nami…"

My eyes are sliding in and out of focus now. I take deep, slow breaths, trying to calm myself down.

"Nami?!" Nyan's voice rises sharply. "Nami, are you alright?"

I shake my head quickly, clenching my hands into fists so that my nails dig into my palms, and my eyesight begins to clear again. "I'm sorry, Nyan. I…Did you say…third-in-command?"

"Third-in-command," he repeated. His voice was quieting down now, and he lets out a long, slow breath.

"As in, I'm going to help you make decisions during emergencies?"

"More than that," he says, laughing. "That's a normal job. You have a much more important one than that. When you were a normal Junior Master, you were allowed to invite people, but you could only expel people if we gave you permission for each individual, as you remember—now, we're going to trust your judgment. If you want to expel someone, we're going to assume you had a decent reason for it. No permission needed unless it's a special case, such as myself—but of course, we know you wouldn't do that to me." He laughs again.

I make a sound of agreement, although this new privilege had hardly affected my status—I hated to expel people, no matter how horrible they were.

"Now, obviously, Martel is first-in-command, as the real Master of LoveLess. I'm second-in-command, as his brother. You're third-in-command, the first person to have enough trust for anything like this. If there's a problem that neither of us can deal with, you will obviously be the one that has to take charge and solve it. That means that yes, you're going to be the first person we go to, should we ever need advice for anything."

I agree again, my throat choking a bit. To have this much trust from the two of them…

"And finally. Should Martel and I have another complication in our lives, such as what happened half a year ago, you will take our place as the Guild Master until we return."

I open my mouth and try to say something, with no success—my throat has choked up completely. My heart feels as though it had skipped a beat—once, maybe twice…

"Martel will find a way to give you the abilities to do so, but in our absence, you will be able to promote others to Junior Master status and demote the Junior Masters you deem unworthy of the position. Ultimately, if there is another person who decides that they'll be the next Majeh, you're in charge of making sure they get kicked out of here and never come back. And if _we_ never come back…"

He pauses, as if waiting for an answer, but I am still shaking from the shock. Guild Master? Taking over the guild? All of this responsibility was overwhelming for me. I couldn't be a leader. I couldn't do what they wanted me to do.

"Nami?" He laughs shakily. "Hey, are you there? You haven't really said much of anything."

"I'm here," is my pathetic excuse for an answer.

"What is it? Most people I know would be dancing around and screaming if they became the alternate Guild Master. It's a great honor, you know."

"I know," I say hastily. "I'm happy for that. I'm happy you trust me so much. I…" I trail off, realizing that I had nothing else to say, and opt to play with my sleeve instead.

"Well, you sure don't _sound _happy," he comments, chuckling, although I notice a slight tremor in his voice. "Do you…not want it?"

I gasp. "I _am_ happy, Nyan! And I would never turn down an offer from you and Martel! It's just so much of a responsibility; I couldn't help but think of everything I'd have to do. And…" I clamp my mouth closed before I finish my sentence.

"…And what?" Nyan prompts, after a rather lengthy pause.

"The reason why you're doing this…" I venture, gripping my hands together. My throat feels tight again, but I swallow and force my thoughts out. "You're not planning on…leaving, are you? Are you going to move on already?"

"Move on!" Nyan's voice is a quick, loud outburst. "We'd never do that, Nami! Why would you think of something like that?"

I mumble something, but Nyan does not seem to hear me.

"Sorry, Nami, didn't catch that."

"I thought…because you're planning everything out so thoroughly…that you would want to…" I cannot find it within myself to continue. Instead, I bite my lip and fidget with my earpiece.

"No, no, Nami, it's not like that." He sighs again. "Martel and I are just afraid of what would happen if there was something else we couldn't avoid. We didn't mean anything in the way you thought about it. You don't have to worry about anything."

My eyelids lower slightly, and a half-hearted smile tugs at my lips. "If you say so, Nyan. Thank you for trusting me."

"You're welcome," is his reply, his now quiet voice full of genuine happiness. "Don't let us down, Nami."

And he disconnects the private link between the two of us, leaving me to sit in silence, immersed in contemplation.

* * *

"Hey, Nami. Nice afternoon, right?"

Sitting up in my chair, I stretch my arms up to the sky and grin. "You said it, Martel. It's a great day—in fact, we should do something as a guild, right?"

"Like what?" the Guild Master asks, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

I smirk, mirroring his movements. "A Guild Party Quest."

"Goddess, Nami!" Martel exclaims, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Do you have to bring that up _every day_?"

"Don't blame me for loving events that don't involve an endless, mindless massacre."

Martel laughs. "Alright, you win. Now look at the guild register. There's hardly any people connected. We need at least one full party, right? So we can't do your Party Quest until we get more people."

"Well, what do you want _me _to do about it?" I ask, looking away with an exaggerated countenance of annoyance.

"How am I supposed to know? This is your problem, _third-in-command_," he replies, giving me a smirk of his own as he raises his eyebrows again.

"Whatever you say, _Boss_." I laugh and flip open my register, noticing Butta's name on the list of people connected to the network. With a few clicks, I send a chat invitation to him.

His face appears in the chat box almost immediately. "Hey, Nami. Good to see you. I haven't talked to you in a while—how have you been?"

I give him a genuine smile—I always enjoyed talking to him, and it was apparent now that he had not wanted to forget about me, contrary to my belief a few days ago. "I'm great. Actually, I was wondering, are you and your guild mates doing anything right now?"

"I don't think so," he says, scratching his head. "We're just talking and training, I guess—just another slow day. Why?"

"Do you think anyone would want to re-join the original LoveLess—just temporarily—for a Guild Party Quest? I'm dying to be in one, but there's no one connected in our branch, and…"

"Of course, I'll ask them," Butta interrupts, smiling. "And I'll definitely be there. It's been a while since I've seen the original branch, hasn't it?"

"Definitely!" I jump in excitement, making Martel stare at me, eyebrows raised. I smile sheepishly and scratch the back of my head. "I'll be on my way to Sharenian right now. Bring everyone that you can!"

"Sure, you got it," is his reply, along with a laugh. "You're always so active, Nami."

I beam at him. "Thanks, Butta! I'll take that as a compliment."

After relaying the message to Martel, we both set off towards Sharenian, the fire mage quickly putting distance between us while I stop to catch my breath and talk to Butta occasionally. Eventually, Martel is too far ahead, so I stop my attempt to catch up to him, and I slow down to a stroll.

"I'm so excited to see you guys there," I say for about the ninth time during my mindless chatter. "It's been so long since any of you have been in the original branch. I haven't heard from your guild mates in a while—how is everyone doing?"

Butta laughs again, and fiddles with his register a bit. "Actually, we're doing all right. It hasn't been the same since you've left, though—you made a really big impact when people realized you were gone for good."

A frown pulls at the corners of my mouth. "Dan wasn't just making that up, then."

"Of course not," Butta says, frowning as well. He puts a finger to his chin, closing his eyes. "Come to think of it, this is a great opportunity for us."

"What, the Guild PQ? How so?"

"Well…" He crosses his arms, and nods to himself. "Think about it, Nami. This is an opportunity for everyone to return to the original branch. When the PQ is over, people will expect all of us to return to the new guild—"

"But you won't," I interrupt, catching on. "You'll stay here, and everyone else will follow your lead, right?"

He nods. "When people catch on to that, the rest of the guild mates will all return. Then the guild problem will be solved."

"Perfect!" I exclaim, clapping my hands. "You're a genius, Butta!"

He chuckles nervously. "Thanks for the compliment, Nami. I hope it all works out the way it's planned."

* * *

"Hey, guys!"

"Nami!" Rain, to my great surprise, runs up to me and embraces me tightly. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever! You look great! I'm _so_ excited—are you? I definitely am!"

I laugh at her enthusiasm, looking away from her to check the guild register. Sure enough, Rain had already re-joined LoveLess, along with a considerable number of other guild mates—Butta, Ane, and Matt among them. I walk up to the group, Rain running ahead of me to stand next to a figure that I recognize immediately.

"SJB!" I break into a sprint. He turns to face me, as many of the others also do, and many of them cry out my name, smiling widely. With a few teleport, and I see SJB's mouth turned up slightly—the only part of his face I can really see, as dark sunglasses cover his eyes.

"Hey, Nami. Nice to see you. Guild PQ, huh?" He gestures to the large group in front of me. "Nice turnout. Butta's been telling us to get here."

Martel appears out of nowhere, grinning as he tousles my hair. "Great job getting people, Nami!"

"Butta," I correct automatically, smiling as I try to straighten out my hair again. I stick my tongue out at him, and he laughs.

"Sure, good job, Butta." Turning to the group of participants, he shouts enthusiastically, "So, are we going to get started?"

A loud cheer rises from the group, many already checking their equipment and chatting about items, but Rain pouts, crossing her arms.

"SJB, why haven't you joined yet?"

A hush suddenly falls over the LoveLess guild mates as we turn to look at the Hermit. He crosses his arms in return.

"I don't see any guarantee as to what the outcome of this will be, Rain."

"Come _on_," she coos, leaning towards him. "We'll come back, I promise! Right after the Guild PQ, we'll all be re-invited—"

He steps away from her. "Tell me, how will that be possible?"

"What do you _mean_, 'how will that be possible'?" Rain pouts again and shakes her head, her black pigtails swishing back and forth. "We get invitations back to the guild, _duh_. You're so silly sometimes, SJB!"

"Really?" His face—or at least, what we can see of it—remains impassive. "Now tell me this, Rain—how are you going to get invitations if there's no one _here _to invite you _back_?"

Everyone freezes. This was the last point that I would have remembered, and according to the reactions of the others, it was clear that SJB was the only one to think of this. Rain bites her lip, looking around for help, but no one has an answer to offer.

"I…uh…" She looks down, her voice trembling. "I…I don't…know…"

"Exactly." He pulls out a chair and sits down, arms still crossed. "Go have fun, guys."

"But…!" I take a step forward, as does Butta, Rain, and Martel. "You're an important part of this, SJB! You can't stay here! You have to come with us!"

"I have to invite everyone back," he replies, raising an eyebrow. "It's alright, Nami. I can wait. No need to get overdramatic."

Rain chews on her bottom lip, playing with her fingers. "Invite someone else!" she says suddenly, startling many around her. "Let someone else stand here and wait! Anyone else can sit around and do nothing, but you _have _to be there! Just invite someone else to let them gives us all invitations!"

"They'll have Rank 5 status, Rain. It can't be done."

"But…" She turns away, and crouches down, taking ragged breaths. Ane kneels to comfort her, and Butta and I exchange looks—were my eyes as wild as his at the moment, I wonder?

"It can be done. I'll do it."

Everyone turns to Martel now, who gives SJB a curt nod. "I have privileges there, SJB. Don't worry. Come and enjoy a guild event for a bit."

"Yeah, SJB, don't just sit here," I say a bit too enthusiastically, clasping my hands together. "You don't want to make Rain cry, do you?"

"I'm _not _crying!"

SJB sighs. "Whatever you guys want." Standing up, he rips his old invitation apart, and accepts the one Martel offers. He exchanges looks with Martel, Butta, and me in turn. We all nod.

"Let's go, guys!"

* * *

"Great job, guys!" I shout, waving to the group. They all erupt into cheers, some even dancing as others break away from the group to discuss the event excitedly. Martel gives me and Butta a smile, which we return enthusiastically.

"Alright, you all," Martel says, addressing the entire group, "Anyone who needs to re-join Chi's branch, come with me." He leaps into a portal, and many follow suit. Ane and Matt smile at me before they leave together, and even SJB gives me a smile—at least, that was what it looked like—before he vanishes from sight as well. Butta begins to follow, but I grab onto his arm.

"Butta, wait. I thought you said you were staying!"

He looks at me, and blinks slowly. "I'm sorry, Nami. I have to go back."

"But…But you said…!" I grip onto his arm more tightly. "You can't go! You said you'd make everyone stay, too!"

"I know, Nami, but…" He gestures with his free hand to the empty surroundings. "They've all left. It's too late for me to make a statement."

"They'll notice you're gone!" I swallow, and I look up, my crimson irises meeting his chocolate-brown ones. He does not break the gaze. "They'll notice, just the way they noticed me gone! You said the problem would be solved!"

He gently breaks my hold on his arm. "Nami, listen to me. I can't do this anymore. Who knows how long it would take? Who would keep in touch with me to let me know how the new branch is doing? I don't have someone the way Kai is for you."

"You don't need someone like Kai!" He winces, and I bite my lip—I had not realized how many volumes my voice had risen. "You promised!"

"I'm sorry, Nami." He turns away. "I can't hurt their feelings." And he walks away from me, his slow steps echoing across the empty land. I look down at the floor, and a hot, itchy feeling leaves a trail down my cheek. I reach up and wipe my glove across it. It's wet.

You do not understand, Butta…It is not just your fault. The fault lies with everyone. You could do whatever you wanted to do. But you…do not leave without a second thought for what you are leaving…

They are not the only ones with feelings…

* * *

I yawn, my eyes clenched shut, and stretch slowly, my mind still blurred by the aftereffects of a long sleep. I breathe out a sigh of relief and inhale a breath of cool air, smiling sadly as I reminisce about yesterday's events. If only it had lasted just a bit longer…

"Good morning, Nami!"

I turn the dial on my earpiece to the friends' channel. "Good morning, Ane. How are you?"

There is no answer, and I sigh. Was I imagining voices now? I could not possibly miss them _that _much…

And then I hear the voice again, a soft, petulant whine. "I said good _morning_, Nami!"

"Good morning, Ane," I repeat. There is still no answer. Scratching my head, I try hitting my head a bit—a rather stupid idea, I'll admit—but it apparently does not work.

"Nami, are you even there? Good morning! Good morning! How are you this morning?"

I frown and flip open my register, as her voice echoed on in my earpiece. Ane wasn't online in my friends' channel. Wait a minute. She was never there. I flip to the guild register hurriedly, my finger slipping as I did so.

Ane was there.

So was Matt. I gape at my register for a few moments, before I snap back to reality and turn the dial on my earpiece again. "Ane! Matt! I didn't know you're still here—didn't you return to the new LoveLess?"

"Well, we did," Ane replied nonchalantly, "but we came back, you see. We're here to stay."

I blink twice. "Why's that?"

"Well…" Ane sighed. "It's Dan, you know?"

"Dan? What does he have to do with anything?"

"He has _everything _to do with anything!" she explodes, making me utter a small shriek. "Oops, sorry. But he always flirts with all the girls, and he's always trying to tell people he loves us, and it's…Agh! It's so _annoying_! So I left. And came here, because I figured, if I was gonna leave, I may as well be with you, right?"

"I just followed Ane," was Matt's explanation. He yawned. "But it's nice to see you, too, Nami."

I laugh, startling the two of them. "I'm so glad you came back, you guys," I say, smiling to myself.

"We're glad, too, Nami," Ane says, giggling. Matt and I laugh too, and we converse with each other cheerfully. I did not really care what we talked about—my feelings of elation for their presence in the guild simply crowded out everything else within me, but for once, I was not bothered by the simplicity of my emotions.

Far off to the east, the sun is rising, casting a soft glow around it as the gray of the sky begins to clear.

* * *

"Can I ask what you're doing?"

My eyes flutter open at the sound of a familiar voice, and Butta's face, which displays a rather crooked smile, appears in my view. I shriek and bolt upright. "I'm sorry, Butta. I was kind of tired, and it was a slow day, since everyone was training…" I yawn, and he laughs. I blink twice, slowly. "By the way, what are you doing in my house?"

He raises an eyebrow. "We're in the market."

I blush.

He laughs again, and sits down next to me. "Actually, I had a question about the guild."

"What's that?" I ask, suppressing another yawn.

"How many people have come back so far?"

"Three." I make my best effort to keep my facial expression calm, squeezing my hands together.

He nods slowly. "I see. And…"

"And what?" I ask politely, leaning back slightly.

"Is there…any chance that there's any room for a White Knight in there?"

My eyes widen. "Really? You mean it?"

"Of course I do." He looks down at the ground. "I've been thinking about what's been happening lately, Nami. I really think it's time for a change."

I give him a hesitant smile. "And what made you think that?"

"That conversation we had a few weeks back," he replies, picking up some of the snow from the ground. "About how we told each other we had to do something about the guild drama—something we had to do on our own, without needing help from everyone else like usual."

I nod, trailing my fingers through the snow absent-mindedly.

"Well…" He looks up at me again. "You've already done everything you needed, Nami. You went back to the original LoveLess. You left everyone behind, even at the risk of never seeing them again."

I nod again, biting my lip.

"I haven't done any of that," he continued. "If I can't do anything myself, I can't expect others to go first. It's not right." He pauses, letting the snow drop out of his hand. "I have to do something, too. I can't just let you stand alone like this."

He stands up, and I stand as well, brushing some snow off of my gown. Our eyes meet, and he smiles nervously as I give a quiet sigh.

"I'm asking you to invite me right now," he says, slowly. He hesitates. "I think it's time for me to cross over."

I nod, and he takes out his invitation, inhaling deeply as he does so. I smile sympathetically.

"It really is hard, isn't it?"

He nods, and closes his eyes. "This is it." And he tears across the middle of the invitation, dropping the burning halves to the floor as he reaches out to take the new invitation I offer to him.

"Thanks, Nami." He nods, and grins as he pats the emblem on his shirt. "I hope this really works out this time."

I nod in response. "So do I."

* * *

Rain was the first to return.

After only two days, she had supposedly figured out that Butta was gone, and she had rushed to see him, forcing him to tell a Junior Master to invite her to the original branch. The members of the original branch—Martel especially—had been startled at her return, but it was something to be happy for, at least in my opinion.

The days after that were filled with people from the new guild attempting to either return or be recruited to the original branch. It was a chaotic period of time, but it was a sort of chaos that calmed my mind.

Butta had been right, after all. All they had needed as a leader.

But was it truly the fact that they had waited so long was because they were too afraid to step up and do something on their own? Or were they simply mirroring the actions of a respected guild member, the way that they had been for such a long time? It was the sort of thoughts I had wanted to banish from my mind, but they still persisted.

Interestingly enough, SJB was one of the last ones to return. I doubt that it was because he did not want to return, but rather, because he still believed that there was a chance that Chi would return…But as time passed, he eventually gave in, and deserted the new branch.

The guild channel was no longer depressingly silent every day, as it had been a few weeks ago, but rather, it was now filled with cheerful chatter. It was as though the new guild branch had never been created, and we had simply been in the original branch the entire time.

Every day that I connected to the communications network, I heard greetings now, and I smiled at the sound of them. I had met Jace, as well—she was a friendly enough individual, if not a bit dull, but that was probably due to my biased opinion prior to meeting her. I _think_ that was my reason for it, at any rate.

And so we continued to reside in LoveLess, as though there had never been a problem. Life in Bera had finally become what it was created to be—a simple place of happiness, where one could go to simply cast away the problems of the other worlds surrounding us, just out of reach. It was finally over. We would not have to worry about the guild drama, ever again…

At least, not until the day Chi returned.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Oh, man, it's been what, 4 months already?! Agh, I've really been procrastinating…. Apologies to all of you that actually missed this story, and many thanks to those of you who reviewed! Let me see here…

To CrapPishh: Oh, is that what you did with your guild? Wow. I'm glad that your new guild is fun to be with, though; personally I think that the best thing for a guild to be is nice and sociable. :D And yeah, the cliché returning concept with her, but then again, a lot of my guild mates have a habit of doing that. Oh well. Thanks for the review! :D

To HonestNinja123: Wow, I don't think I've heard of that quote, but that's a great one! I really like it a lot. Well, just a little more drama to come, but hopefully it works out in the end, yeah? Thanks for the review and the awesome quote; I'm taking note of it. :D

To martelswrath: Glad you liked it, Jo. I'm happy you like reading about stuff you already experienced. XD Teehee!

To Raneia: *blatantly ignores Kai* :3

So, to tell you the truth, this chapter was supposed to be joined with the future Chapter 7, but I separated the chapter into two parts, partly because the chapter would have been too long, but also because I felt that there was too much to put into one chapter without making it seem like info dumping. That's pretty much why this chapter is so short in comparison. Apologies for procrastinating for so long just to give you such a disappointing chapter…! And as the chapters continue, it seems to become more and more dramatized and inaccurate…which is not good…! Well, there's only one more chapter to go, and then the epilogue.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

"I can't believe it."

A sheaf of papers, which I had been carrying to the bulletins, falls out of my hands, and I turn to familiar guild members—Butta, Rain, and SJB—all of them wearing similar countenances of shock as they gaze down at a blinking window in their friends registers. "She's actually…?"

"If you think you're imagining this, your imagination must be bad enough to affect all of us, too," SJB muttered, examining his register. He taps a few buttons and presses on his earpiece. "Chi, is that really you?"

"SJB?" Chi's voice, confident as usual, streams through my earpiece, and I turn to the appropriate channel as well. "Where are you? What happened to you all?"

No one answers.

"Why is my guild empty?" Her voice is becoming shriller with each question. "What happened?"

The four of us are at a loss for a reply, and the awkward silence stretches past several minutes.

"Well?" Her voice rises. "Answer me!"

Rain is the one to speak up first, her voice timid as she stammers, "C-Chi, we're sorry…We're in the old LoveLess; we thought you were gone…But—"

"I can't believe you!" Chi screams, startling us all. "How _could_ you? Why would you all leave? I promised you a guild with a leader, and you're back in the guild that was _deserted_?"

"It's not deserted, Chi!" Butta interrupts loudly. I notice that his hand, pressed against his earpiece, was trembling. "Nyan and Martel returned! We have a leader now!"

"That's a lie!" she yells over him. "I can't believe _any _of you! You're all traitors! How could you betray me like this?"

"We didn't betray you," SJB interrupts curtly. "You weren't there to be betrayed."

Chi screams obscenities, and we exchange looks again. Rain's hands are at her mouth, and she is shaking.

"Rain! You, of all people, are the one I'm most shocked at!" Chi's voice is becoming almost unbearable to listen to, but I breathe deeply, hoping that she would explain herself somewhere along the way. "I thought we were friends no matter what happened to us! We're childhood friends! _How could you do this to me_?"

"I didn't mean to," Rain whimpered. "I'm sorry, Chi! But you said you moved on!"

"That doesn't matter to me! I hate you all! I'll never forgive you!"

"Chi!" Their voices are a chorus of indignation and desperation. I feel as though I wanted to join them, but the impulse comes too late, so I keep my mouth shut.

"Forget it! _I hate you_!"

And suddenly, SJB's face pales, right before Butta's does as well. Shortly after, Rain breaks into sobs, and falls to her knees. I rush to her side and kneel down, patting her back.

"What happened?" I ask, looking up at the two males as Rain wails.

"She deleted us," SJB says, his face unreadable again. "All of us. At least…"

The three of them turn their gazes to me—even Rain, who was still hiccupping, her eyes red. I blink, and flip open my register.

"She's still here," I say, shaking my head. "Why would she do this?"

SJB shrugs. "Maybe it's because you didn't say anything. She probably thought you were away or something."

Rain whimpers, and Butta kneels down to pat her on her back softly as well.

"I can't believe she'd do this," he says quietly, looking down at the floor. "I never believed it would be this bad…"

"That's the problem, Butta," SJB comments. "I don't think anyone could have predicted this."

Beside me, Rain clutches to Butta's arm, tears still dripping onto the floor, and I have a sudden impulse to join her. This was not possible. It was not supposed to turn for the worse in such a way.

The only hope that I clung onto was my old belief about everything. A problem had to get worse before it got better. This problem would be solved, eventually. Hopefully.

It had to be…

* * *

The sound of breaking glass attracts my attention.

I turn my head to see SJB, who is staring at the ground, where the remains of what used to be a decorative vase now lies, scattered across the floor. He sighs and shakes his head, swearing. "Talk about a failure of a Thief."

I give him a reassuring smile as I head towards a closet for some cleaning supplies. "Don't worry about it, SJB. I'm sure we can buy another one—or maybe not; we all know we don't use those anyway."

He sighs again and half-heartedly kicks the shards closer together. "Never mind that, Nami. I needed to talk to you—there's something wrong with Rain."

"Rain?" I pause and turn around, a broom in my hand. "What happened to her?"

He sighs and takes a seat on a wooden bench. "She left the guild. While you were gone—she returned to Chi's new LoveLess."

My eyes widen. "What? How?"

"Chi invited her."

"Well, not that kind of how, but thanks anyway. Seriously, what happened?"

He says nothing for a minute, only pausing to adjust his sunglasses. "She had a fight with someone, I guess. But the real reason is that she didn't want Chi to hate her, plain and simple. They've been friends too long for Rain to allow her to hate her."

I look down at the ground, brushing the shards together slowly. "Oh."

Was it true? Rain had always been a superficial sort of person, I knew—she had never seemed to care about what happened between her friends, unless she was an actual part of the drama. So why was she so acting so different this time?

Suddenly, a shadow falls across the floor, and the two of us look to the side to see Butta at the doorway, his arm resting against the door frame. "What's going on, you guys?"

We turn to him in surprise. "Butta!" I exclaim. "We're alright, I guess…What are you here for?"

He steps to the side and leans against the wall. "I was bored, so I was wandering around in the guild hall. You guys sound like you're talking about something important."

SJB nods. "You were there when Rain left, weren't you, Butta?"

Butta sighs, running his hand through his hair as he looks up at the ceiling. "Was I there? Of course I was, but I wish I hadn't been."

I frown, now walking to the closet to obtain a dustpan. "Was it really that bad?"

"I guess you could say that," I hear Butta reply. "I…" He hesitates. "I think I was actually part of the reason for making her leave."

My eyes widen, and I whirl around. "What? You made her leave?"

"Sorry, Nami, that came out wrong." Butta crosses his arms, closing his eyes, and continues, "What I meant was that she would have left even if I hadn't said anything, but I've probably made it worse. She was angry that Chi seemed like she hated her, obviously. She was planning to return to Chi's branch, but I tried to stop her. I guess she got mad at me, though, because she said that it was basically our fault that everything happened the way that it did, and I have no idea why."

Both SJB and I shrug, and the Hermit motions for the White Knight to sit next to him. He does so, virtually collapsing as he slumps on the bench. "It probably wasn't even really your fault, Butta," SJB says, facing back to the floor as I begin to brush the glass shards into the dustpan. "Like you said, she was probably going to leave anyway. Maybe she just had pent-up anger she was dealing with." I nod silently.

Butta straightens up, and he smiles slightly. "Maybe her pent-up anger had nothing to do with the guild drama. Maybe she was just having a bad day." SJB's mouth turns up slightly, and I resist the temptation to smile as well at our little game.

"Maybe she didn't get to yell at Dan for being an idiot that day," I mutter, keeping my face straight as I dump the glass into a garbage bin. "Maybe she was just suffering from teen angst." Butta's smile widens.

"I don't know what you're trying, but thanks anyway, guys." He turns around and begins to walk out of the guild hall. As the distance increases between us and him, we hear him add, "I hope Martel and Chi forgive each other soon."

"So do we," the Hermit and I reply quietly, as the sound of his footsteps fade away.

* * *

I sigh, and in the empty room, the sound of it is unusually loud.

"What 'cha up to, Nami?"

I lift my head up from the heavy records book on which it had been resting, and I see the wildly blue hair of Stella. I smile sleepily and give her a small wave. "Just records, Stella. N-N-Nothing to worry about."

She laughs as I stifle a yawn, pulling out a chair to sit in front of me. She prods the book with her index finger. "Lot of work, huh? Especially with the new members?"

"Mm," I agree absentmindedly, rubbing my hand across my eyes. I stare at the small lettering for a few moments before I put my pen down. "Stella, you were Sissy's friend, right?"

Stella tilts her head, but nods. "Why the sudden question, Nami?"

"Nothing much." I shrug. "It's just…I haven't seen her in a while. She was so nice…I miss her."

Stella nods again slowly, lowering her head to rest her chin on her crossed arms, which lay on the table. "I guess I'd have to blame Nullus for that."

"Nullus?" My eyes widen temporarily as I mentally pound my mind for memories of the slightly familiar name. "That Bishop, right? Wasn't he one of those really fast trainers?"

Stella makes a sound of agreement, frowning. "She had a lot of admiration for him, you know. She was always so excited when he talked to her…so she always tried to get a chance to talk to him. He didn't, of course, care much about her. After a while, she…her feelings…strengthened…you know?"

"Mm," I say again, fixing my eyes on my finger tracing a spiral on the tabletop.

"So she told him about it, I think. He didn't…well, he didn't say anything about it. He pretty much ignored her, and she didn't really like it. So she moved on."

"…Moved on?" I look up briefly from the spirals of the wood to meet Stella's eyes. "You mean, she's really—"

Stella sighs. "Gone. Gone for good, probably. Maybe she got tired of this world, anyway."

We sit in silence, and I trace more spirals. For Sissy to become tired of our world…Nullus must have been horrible to her.

I look up at Stella.

"Whatever happened to Nullus, anyway?"

Stella shrugged. "He's still in the new LoveLess, with Chi. Apparently, he's acting like her new best friend."

I frown. "What a jerk."

"Not really," Stella replied lightly, rubbing her staff's top with one of her pajama sleeves. "She's got to have some partner, especially with Majeh's supposed absence."

I look down at the records book again, and scratch my head. "Huh. I forgot about him."

Stella laughs, but says nothing else, and silence falls between us. We continue to sit there awkwardly, and I look in different directions, but nowhere in general.

Nullus, Chi's new best friend? It was a strange idea to think about, but at the same time, it was probable. Nullus was a Bishop who trained endlessly, in that never-ending quest for power. Chi was the Priest who led her guild ruthlessly, in a never-ending search for her own power. If Majeh, a person who only seemed to act for his own intentions…

* * *

"_Nami? Are you there?"_

_I raise my head, shifting my focus away from my schoolbooks. "Majeh? Is that you?"_

"_Yes," he says, his voice a whisper in my earpiece. "Listen, I've been kicked out of the guild—LoveLess, are you still in it?"_

"_Well, yeah," I reply, my eyebrows rising, "But Majeh, you've been gone for months. It's only understandable that you would have been expelled by now."_

"_Nami, it's not about why I was expelled," he interrupts, "what I meant to ask you was if you'd invite me back."_

_I hesitate to answer, remembering a distant echo of Martel's voice, explicitly telling me _not_ to invite Majeh back. "Majeh…"_

"_Please, Nami?"_

_I clench my fingers into a tight fist, scrunching my eyes shut. 'Say no, say no, say no…'_

"_One minute, I'll send you an invitation."_

_Damn._

_A moment later, an automated voice announces Majeh's arrival into the guild—although there is no one there to hear it but me and one silent guild mate—and I hear Majeh's laugh. "Thanks, Nami. I really appreciate it."_

"_Mhm," I say half-heartedly, once again immersed in my books._

_-0-_

"_Sometimes I wonder whether or not Gawk and Martel are ever going to come back."_

_I sigh and keep my eyes trained on my books, not even bothering to look up to see who is speaking. "Of course they're going to come back," I say, digging my fingernails into the wooden table in an effort to keep my voice even. "It's only a matter of time now."_

"_You know, I don't know why Majeh had to make his own guild. We were perfectly fine without a leader—the Jr. Masters did a great job with managing everything while they were gone, and it's not like we really needed _that _many Jr. Masters, right?"_

"_I guess," I reply half-heartedly._

"_That reminds me. How'd he even get back into the guild? Anyway, it doesn't really matter. I heard he got expelled as soon as Martel saw him there. Isn't that hilarious?"_

_I make a sound of agreement, but everything he is saying seems to be muted, and his words begin to sound more like background noise._

"_So I heard that he made his own guild, because he didn't get to be a Jr. Master again in the original LoveLess…"_

_

* * *

_

I hear the scraping of chairs, and I look forward to see Stella standing, staff clutched with both hands. "Going somewhere, Stella?"

She nods, smiling as she points at the book my arms are resting on. "I have to let you finish your work, don't I?"

I give an exaggerated groan, and Stella laughs as she pushes the door open, but her eyes seem to soften as she looks at the piles of books and scattered notes around me. "See you later, Nami. Maybe a Party Quest later?" She shrugs halfheartedly, giving another weak laugh.

"Sure," is my late answer, right before the door slams shut.

* * *

"No! Never! Absolutely not!"

"Come on, Martel! Just think—"

"No! What are you, stupid?"

"Fine! Forget about it!"

I walk through the portal of the free market to see Rain storming out, her dark hair fluttering behind her like a curtain—her hair is now free of her hair ties—as she spins awkwardly to avoid bumping into me. "Sorry, Nami," she says shortly, before she disappears into the swirl of lights. I blink twice, scratching my head, before I sigh and approach Martel.

"What just happened?" I ask, tilting my head. Martel exhales rather violently as he turns to me, and I jump backwards, pulling my arms up to my chest reflexively.

Martel shakes his head. "It's okay, Nami. It's not your fault."

"Then what was—?"

But I am not able to finish my inquiry; Martel has already brushed past me, disappearing into the portal I had entered through. I gape at the portal for several seconds, until SJB enters through the blend of light colors.

"Close your mouth," is his first comment. I comply, and he sighs, propping a chair up to sink into it. He looks up at me, and arches an eyebrow.

"What?"

I shake my head noiselessly, breaking my gaze from him, and wave my staff, conjuring a chair to sit in front of him. I open my mouth to say something, but I realize I have nothing to say, so I shut it again, and we sit together in silence. Above us, the clouds drag along the gray, never-ending expanse of the sky, and I look down, sighing as I breathe slowly.

"This drama's been going on too long." SJB's voice, a sudden sound that cuts into the silence, startles me. My head snaps up in response, eliciting what sounds like a crack from my neck, and I groan, rubbing my neck as I roll my head around slowly to relax it.

"You said it," I finally say, sighing, and he raises an eyebrow again, but does not reply. We sit in silence once again. I decide to pass the time by tugging on a loose string hanging from one of my golden sleeves, and I slowly draw it out, smoothing it as the pressure of pulling it causes the fabric to wrinkle, and—

"This is awkward," SJB comments, alarming me. The string snaps from my sleeve, and I nod silently, my cheeks burning as he adds, "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Well, why wouldn't you be here?" I mumble, winding the string around my index finger. The corners of the Hermit's mouth turn up slightly. "I don't understand," I say, abruptly shifting the topic, and SJB's grin vanishes instantly.

"Understand what?"

"The drama?" I say, waving my hand absentmindedly. He sighs, and I frown. "No, I mean it! I don't get it at all! Why do we always keep arguing? Every time it seems like there's a solution, someone else has to come around and mess things up again, and we never stop fighting! It's like it'll never end, and it bothers—"

"Me. It bothers me too."

I stare at him. "Excuse me?"

"You're not the only one tired of it, Nami." He leans back in his chair, pulling his arms back so his hands cradle the back of his head. "Take what just happened, for example."

"I would, but I only heard half of it," I say, smirking. "What happened?"

"Rain was making an offer to Martel—one that Chi gave to send to him. She says that Chi's group is willing to forgive Martel and Nyan's—that is to say, our—group."

I smile. "That's great! I guess—"

"If," he continues, silencing me, "Martel apologizes to Chi."

My smile disappears, and I scratch my head. "Apologize? What for?"

He shrugs. "Good question."

I stand up suddenly, knocking my chair to the floor. "That's just ridiculous! Why would he apologize? He hasn't done anything—we don't even know what we're apologizing for; why should we do it?"

"Nami." He holds up a hand, and I sit back down quietly. "I know what you mean. But I think he should just apologize."

"_What? _How could you—" I yell, standing up again, but I am instantly pulled down by SJB with so much force that I slide off my chair and onto the ground. I reflexively swing my arm, effectively hitting him on the back of his head and knocking his sunglasses off of his face. He releases me with a sigh, dusting himself off as he picks up his sunglasses, which are now slightly wet from the snow on the ground.

"Nami," he repeats firmly, settling back into his chair, "I didn't mean he should apologize the way Chi thinks he should. I meant that he should just do it. Just say the words. It doesn't have to mean _anything_."

"But…" I stammer, "what's the use?"

It wasn't fair for Chi or Rain to do this to Martel. All Martel had done was come back from his prolonged absence, and to see that everyone had deserted him must have been torture. Chi and Rain—and Majeh's name flits across my mind before I bat it away—had made their guild by their own decisions, and they were the ones who had taken us away from Martel. Martel was simply taking back what was supposed to be his guild mates—and I could understand his disappointment with us. We had promised them that we wouldn't leave them.

But I suppose that, like many of our other ideals, promises were meant to be broken.

He lets his sunglasses dangle loosely from one of his hands, his deep violet irises concentrated on my crimson ones, and I take a step backwards. "If they want an apology, he should just give it to them," he says, with more ferocity than with what I was familiar for his character. "Just give them a sentence and let this trouble vanish. No one wants it anymore."

My eyes widen slightly, before my eyelids lower again, and I look to the floor. "I wonder who ever did."

I hear a soft laugh from him—such an unusual sound, coming from him. It had never really occurred to me until now how well SJB had concealed his thoughts. Come to think of it, who in the guild had heard him speak, save for a few rare instances or advice, or among the other Junior Masters? Who had even seen his face, apart from those who were close to him? He never seemed to say much, but what he did say, I realize, always struck the target straight through the center.

I hear the sound of the Hermit rising from his chair, and I look up to see him placing his sunglasses onto his face.

"It's about time for me to leave, Nami," he says, his face an emotionless mask once again. "I don't want to intrude on your time anymore." He turns and walks away without another word, the snow crunching beneath his boots.

I open my mouth to say something, but I realize there is nothing to say.


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: The second half of the final chapter is finally up! Although, the whole "Returning Chi" event should have been one chapter, it seemed to fit better as two, so maybe it's just both halves of the last chapter. Either way, this is still a rather short chapter. Disappointing after such a long wait, I'm guessing? Ah, well.

No reviews for the past chapter, I see, which undoubtedly disappoints me slightly, but as I'm updating today, it's not enough to stop me from rolling out "fanfiction" that's not really fanfiction.

Just a note about this chapter. Due to the fact that the events have happened so long ago—almost a year already!—I've forgotten most of what truly happened. I took many more artistic liberties with this chapter, and many of the more dramatic moments never happened. I'm fairly sure I have never fought with Nyan or any of the other reasonable guild members. Of course, there were disagreements, but it was never that….

I'm rambling again. It should be known, however, that what basically happens is really what happened. I hope you enjoy this chapter! After this, there's only the epilogue—which should be up much more quickly than these last two chapters—and then I can finally declare that this story has truly ended. I'm very grateful and thankful for all those who have been reading for so much time.

Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory, LoveLess, IoveIess, or any of the characters involved except Namina, who I technically do not own, either.

* * *

"Nami, Nami!"

I turn to see Thug approach me. He is a cheerful Priest, with his most distinguishing feature easily being his unusual blue skin—which, according to Thug, is something he enjoys pointing out to others. I smile as he stops in front of me, breathing heavily, and I point to the manila paper clutched tightly in his hands. "What's that you got there, Thug?"

"This," he pants, looking up and brandishing it in my face, "is one of the best things a guild could have. You have to read it—go on, read it." He offers it to me again—rather forcefully, if I may add.

I have already backed away several steps as a reflex from having a paper nearly stabbing my eye out, but I cautiously reach out and take the paper from Thug. I smooth out the crinkles, tilting my head as my eyes scan the bold print.

"Guild alliances," is the phrase that slips out of my mouth. "I don't get it."

Thug snatches it back, narrowing his eyes at me—although he smiles at the same time—and he holds it up so I can see the lettering again. "Guild alliances, Nami. It's a new law that our government passed—it's like guild extensions. You can have guilds be in a large group with other guilds."

I scratch my head. "Like…guild buddy lists?" That sounded interesting—with what sort of guilds could LoveLess form an alliance? If Nyan and Martel were in the headquarters, I might be able to ask them, but…

"Exactly," he says, nodding vigorously. "We can be with other guilds without either group having to disband their guild. It's great! And I knew you would think—"

"LoveLess," I interrupt, my eyes widening.

"And Chi's LoveLess," the Priest adds, gesturing wildly. "They can—"

But if he thought that I still needed him to spell it out for me, he was wrong. Before his lips can form another syllable, I rip the paper away from him, already bolting to the guild headquarters.

* * *

"Nyan? Martel? Where _are_—"

I ram into the door with all my might, but as luck would have it, someone has already started opening the door as I come into contact with it—I scream as I crash onto the ground, alerting everyone already in the guild hall of my presence. I look up and, meeting the eyes of all of my guild-mates, instantly blush to perfectly match my irises.

"What is it, Nami?" one of the guild mates asks with a smile, extending his hand to pull me up. I smile back—my face still flushed—and hold up the paper that I had somehow managed to keep in my hand.

"Did any of you hear about that new law?" I ask as loud as I can, waving the manila sheet high in the air.

"What, about the alliance?" one of the other Junior Masters asks, as many of the other guild members seem to sit up a little straighter at his words.

"Alliance? What's that?" another member inquires.

"Oh, the alliance, it's this new law—" someone begins.

"No, no, shut up, I wanna tell!" a young recruit yells, clambering onto one of the large tables in the hall and knocking over a sheaf of papers, which is clearly not appreciated by the poor Hunter sitting next to him.

Within seconds, the entire hall is filled with the sounds of guild members' voices, the volume steadily rising until it reaches a volume that I really feel I have to admire, despite the fact that I suddenly feel the urge to stab my eardrums.

"Alright, everyone _shut up_!"

The effect of Nyan's booming voice is immediate, and the entire population of the guild hall shifts to face our second-in-command, whose expression suddenly reminds me of the phrase "_If looks could kill…_".

"What are you guys talking about now?" he snaps, although his face is already softening into a grin after seeing our reactions to his outburst. We look to each other, trying to push others to take the initiative to tell Nyan what we were talking about, but somehow, someone pushes me forward, attracting everyone's attention to me.

"Yes, Nami?" Nyan says, raising an eyebrow as he crosses his arms. "Please tell me what's going on."

"Um, well…" I cross the guild hall to hand the paper to Nyan, and then back away a couple steps—just in case. He does not notice this motion, however; he is too engrossed in the paper, and everyone in the hall cranes their necks to see Nyan's reaction.

After a minute, he finally looks up. "What guild?"

"I'm sorry?" I ask, scratching my head.

"What guild do you want?" He replies, smiling easily as a chuckle escapes from him. "I know you wouldn't show this to me for no reason."

I look back to Thug, who nods and makes a sort of waving motion with his hand, and I turn back to Nyan. "Well, I was thinking that maybe our LoveLess and Chi's LoveLess could—"

"No."

Everyone freezes, and the entire hall is deathly silent, save for my pleading voice, which has sharply diminished in volume after hearing Nyan's sharp reply. "But, Nyan, we can—"

"I don't want to hear about it!" he snaps, causing me to flinch and back away another step. His face is completely devoid of all previous emotion. "Chi and Rain and all of them betrayed us, don't you remember? I don't want them back! I don't want this to happen again!"

"But Nyan," I protest, forcing my voice out of my throat painfully, "it won't happen again if they're under your watch! I promise, Nyan, we won't make another mistake like that again. We know you'll be back! It was our fault that we left, not theirs for just tempting us…"

"Honestly, Nami, you're still going to stick up for them after what they put you through?" Nyan shouts, sweeping an arm out to the side and knocking over a vase in the exact same spot, interestingly enough, that SJB had broken another vase just a few weeks ago. With this sound, the guild hall seems to unfreeze, and some of the younger recruits huddle together, pretending not to listen while they steal glances at us.

"Nami, they made you choose between us and Chi's LoveLess, and they didn't even care about you when you joined them, you said so in your records!"

I say nothing as I bite my lip and try not to break my eye contact with Nyan. I knew I had to choose between their LoveLess and Nyan and Martel's LoveLess, but nevertheless, I was the one who had made it dramatizing and agonizing for myself. And so what if I had said they had not cared about me—maybe I was just being an emotional brat back then.

"They told the whole guild to leave our branch, just so 'the guild could have a leader', or some other garbage like that. I don't believe him, I know Majeh and Chi and Rain, they wouldn't do that. They just wanted power, and you know it!"

That wasn't true either. Everyone wanted power—or at least, almost everyone—and maybe everyone did need a leader. Maybe I had been comprehending it wrongly because of my perspective back then.

"Nami, don't just stand there and pretend that those guys were something that they weren't. I know you want to believe that everyone has some kind of inner good in them, but some people just don't use it, or they're just not good people. Don't try to disguise people just so that you don't have to hate them!"

I didn't want to hate anyone. Nyan was right, on that account, but I wasn't willing to go so far as to do what he was telling me I was doing. I wasn't pretending that Majeh or Chi or Rain were people that they weren't, was I? They were truly, and honestly, good people on the inside. They were only acting for their honest beliefs.

"Nami, look and me and tell me honestly that you aren't still upset about what they did."

I stare at Nyan for as long as I can, and when I finally open my mouth, I realize that my voice is wavering. "Nyan, I…I'm not pretending! How do you know that they were really as bad as I wrote them out to be? How do you know that I wasn't just upset and I twisted their actions through my perspective? How do you know I wasn't lying to myself just to make myself feel better so that—"

"I know you didn't lie to yourself, Nami," he interrupts sharply, taking a step forward, "because I know that you're an honest person! You wouldn't do that!"

"I would!" I struggle to try and keep my voice steady, clenching my hands into fists near my chest. "I was upset! I missed you! I lied about them!"

"You didn't lie, Nami, and you know it!" Nyan yells back. "You didn't lie about what they said or did!"

"Nyan, please, just let it go," one of the Junior Masters says, laying a hand on his shoulder. "It's been weeks, maybe even months, since this happened. Maybe they've changed."

"Maybe you think they've changed, but if a person does something like what they did, they're not going to be good people the way you want them to be," Nyan replies harshly, shrugging his hand off.

"Nyan, please, just give them a chance," I feebly protest, my hands shaking terribly now, but Nyan looks at me for a piercing second, and my mouth snaps shut.

"Don't ever tell me to give them a chance again, Nami."

I keep my mouth shut as I turn away, and run to the door, shoving it open. I hear Nyan call my name, but I ignore it, running even faster as the first teardrops fall.

* * *

I collapse to the ground on hands and knees, panting heavily. I was far away from the guild headquarters, but now I was completely lost—I no longer know what to do.

I did, however, know that I _really_ needed to get more exercise.

I maneuver myself into a sitting position and, with trembling fingers, turn my earpiece to the friend's channel. If I was to apologize to Nyan, I had to do it soon—everything that dealt with Nyan had to be resolved as soon as possible, so that he wouldn't hold grudges. Much like…

"Chi, please, just think about it, will you?"

I perk up at Rain's voice, and blink twice as I listen intently, ignoring the stares of a few who are sitting in the room, huddled in a small group as they chatted to each other.

"Chi, can you hear—"

"I can hear you." The sharp sound of Chi's voice startles me, and I almost crack my back from how much I straighten up.

"Well, will you?"

"Rain, give it up. I don't like him. He doesn't like me. It's not gonna happen. End of story."

"But _Chi_, they all want to be allied with you! Really! I mean, don't you think it's time to give up on this whole enemy thing?"

And there was another person who agreed with me, regardless of who the person in question was. I cross my arms and close my eyes, nodding.

"Rain, I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm sick and tired of all this LoveLess business. Stop asking me about it," I hear Chi snap.

"But Chi…." Rain's voice dies away as she presumably realizes that Chi was now ignoring her. She sighs—the last sound I hear from her—and the friend's channel falls silent. I open my eyes to see that a shadow has fallen over me. I turn to see Thug. The small group behind us is staring, but I turn back to Thug, shutting the group out of my line of vision.

"Miss Nami," he booms with a formal sort of air, bowing deeply, "please return to the guild hall. We would like to see you again." Although he has lowered his gaze to the floor, completely still, I peek to see a hint of a grin on Thug's face.

I smile as well and stand up. "Yes, Mister Butler. Please prepare tea when I arrive."

His face relaxes into an open smile. "Shall we walk together, then?"

"We shall," I reply, looping my right arm around his left, and we march off, our laughter echoing in the room as we teleport out.

* * *

"Welcome back," I hear Nyan say as we enter the guild hall. I cross the hall in a few quick strides to stand before him.

"Nyan, I'm s—"

"So am I, but there's no point dwelling on that," he says, patting me on the shoulder. "What we need to do now is figure out a new solution."

I nod, and at that moment, we hear the sound of the door creaking open slowly. I turn around and Nyan cranes his neck to see who had arrived.

It was Rain. She waved half-heartedly to the hall in general before shuffling over to Nyan. "Hi there," she said, smiling feebly.

"What is it, Rain?" Nyan asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"Um, I know you probably still don't like Chi, but I went and asked her to make an alliance with us—"

Nyan threw his hands up. "Honestly, I leave for just a few hours and the entire guild decides to make an alliance without telling me. And the same guild, too!"

"I'm sorry," Rain mumbled, her eyes concentrated on the table next to her.

"That's alright, Rain, what happened?"

"Well, she said no. She doesn't think it's a good idea."

Mumbles fill the hall as the other members lean closer to each other, whispering, but Nyan does not seem to notice this. "Is that so?"

"Well, yeah. You can always try again later, but if it doesn't work, I guess you'll have to find another guild."

"I suppose so. I'll let you go, then."

Rain nods curtly. "Good luck." And with a tight smile, she is gone.

I stare at the door where she has left until Nyan taps me on the shoulder again, and I turn back to him. He is frowning slightly, looking over my shoulder, and I tilt my head. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head quickly. "Nothing. I was just wondering how important it is for you guys to make an alliance with Chi's LoveLess."

"Rather," I mumble, and he smiles.

"You never give up, do you?"

"I don't want to lose anyone, that's all."

Nyan nods, before he looks over my shoulder again, and I turn around to see most of the guild members staring at us.

Nyan claps twice, attracting the attention of everyone else in the hall that had been doing something else. "Alright, guys, get back to whatever you were doing. Move it, now!"

Some of the guild members laugh, and many of them begin to file out of the door. Nyan clears his throat, and I turn back to him. "Nami," he says, "I have something to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to go and ask Chi to make an alliance with us." Taking in my stare, he continues, "Well, I'm no longer on good terms with her, and you're the only reliable link at the moment. Please do it for the guild."

"But—" I stop myself. What if I messed up again? What if I said something wrong, said something that wasn't true, and made relations even worse? Nyan seemed to notice something of this, however, because he sighed.

"Nami, don't worry. Just do your best." He smiles at me, a sad sort of smile, and I return it before I walk out the door.

* * *

"Chi! There you are!"

"Oh, hi Nami," the aforementioned person comments, as I slide to a stop in front of her. "What's up? Why do you look so tired?"

"Ran all the way over," I gasp, sitting down. "Plus, this desert region is so hot!"

"You can say that again." Chi frowns. "What's up?"

I smile weakly. "Oh, uh, nothing. Just wanted to…uh…say hi."

The smile is barely returned. "Hi, then."

_Well, now what?_ I sit in silence with her, looking away as I twiddle my thumbs. I sneak a peek at her quickly, and my eye catches a glimpse of unfamiliar color. A lack of the familiar colors I had been accustomed to seeing with my friends.

"You're in a new guild, then?"

Chi finally smiles, and it feels as though a weight has lifted from the space around us. "Sure did, Nullus helped me with the funding to make more space and everything. What do you think?"

I take in the bright blue and orange emblem—the same shape as LoveLess' emblem, yet different. "It looks great, Chi. I hope the guild's doing well."

"It's doing as well as a new guild can do," she sighs, sitting down as well. "It's better than how my old one turned out, though."

There's nothing I can say to this, so I say exactly nothing. As she sits and sighs periodically, I let my mind wander. How her old guild turned out? I suddenly felt sorry for her. Even considering what had happened, it wasn't her fault. She didn't come up with the idea; she did what someone else wanted her to do. And to have her friends leave her—wait a minute.

"Chi, did you really delete the other guild mates from your buddy list?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Because they betrayed me."

I pause. "But I did too."

She pauses as well. "You see, Nami, I don't really believe it was the same circumstances. I wouldn't delete you."

"Oh." I fall silent for a moment. Not the same circumstances? Was that just some sort of excuse to keep me on her buddy list? That made no sense at all. I was never anything special to her, was I? Just another guild member that followed her. Well, tried to follow her, at the very least, but I couldn't be blamed for remembering my true loyalties when she left. But that _was_ something to be blamed for, if I couldn't remember where my loyalties lie. But this matter was not about me, it was about another matter…. Nyan's voice echoed through my head again.

_I need you to go and ask Chi to make an alliance with us._

"Chi, where have you been for the past few weeks?"

I could slap myself.

She is silent, and I reprimand myself for not being aware of her feelings, for—despite what her actions caused—she was still just a person. "What's wrong, Chi?"

"It's…nothing, Nami." She smiles faintly. "I was just thinking of how long I was gone."

"We were all worried you left us," I say softly, scraping the toe of my boot against the sandy ground. The girl before me shakes her head.

"I'd never leave you guys, Nami. I actually left because I wanted to make sure I could stay with you all."

"I…I don't understand." How did that make sense to her?

She slides her chair closer to me, so that she can lower her voice. "Actually, I was sent away to study."

"Study?"

She nods fervently. "Study, Nami. And I had to study so much! If I wasn't able to get grades that met the standard, I wouldn't be able to contact you for a very long time, if ever."

_If ever_. To imagine her gone forever? To imagine _anyone_ gone forever, to never see them or hear them again? I dig my nails into my palm to stop myself from thinking about it, for tears were already threatening at the corners of my eyes.

"But," I hear myself say, "you're here. So you did alright, I'm guessing?"

"I did fine," she replies dismissively, waving it away with a wave of her hand. "But you wouldn't believe me, Nami, about how much I studied. And through all of that, I was thinking of you guys, and how I didn't want to disappoint you. I didn't want to leave you, and I couldn't think of the possibility that I would have to let you all go."

I dig my nails into my palm more deeply.

"And I did it, Nami, as I told you before. I was so excited when I could contact you guys again, and I could imagine hearing all of your voices again…. But now imagine how I felt when I saw you had all left me. I was alone in the guild."

To be alone. To have everyone leave you, after you had worked so much to assure yourself that you would not have to leave them. It was cruel, a sort of twist that hurt more than anything physical. It was one thing to work for something, but what was it when your reward was an empty promise?

"I don't know why you left me, Nami. I don't know what happened."

"Chi, I understand that you were studying, and that it wasn't because you wanted to abandon us. But back then, we thought you did. Not to be harsh or rude, but the least you could've done was try to leave a notice beforehand."

"I know," she says, looking down at her feet, "but I couldn't reach it early enough. By the time I could, I was studying. I'm sorry."

"I guess we need a 'sorry' on both our parts," I say, forcing a smile. My clenched fist is trembling.

"It's alright…." Her head snaps up. "Now, I have a question for you."

Her sudden movement startles me into smashing into the back of my chair. "What is it?"

"What are you here for? I know you're nice and everything, but you 'just wanted to say hi'? Honestly, you're here to ask about the alliance, aren't you?"

"Well, if I can't lie about saying 'hi', I can't lie about what I'm supposed to be here for," I mumble, looking away from her.

"Rain already tried, you know. And I'm sure Tom refused?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine." She crosses her arms. "I'll give you a chance to say what you want. So what does LoveLess want from me?"

_What does LoveLess want from me?_ Honestly, that was a question I should have asked myself all these weeks. I was here to ask for an alliance, to make up and be one single group again. Was I really doing it because I wanted to do it, or was it because—?

That was ridiculous. Of course I wanted her to make an alliance! It was my decision. So what was hers? She wanted to be left alone, to leave the mark of LoveLess behind and to never be confronted with it again. And with her problems, I could honestly say that I could not blame her. I had to think of this rationally, in an unbiased matter. What was there for her to gain if she made an alliance with LoveLess? Of course, the matter that everyone would be reunited, and that it would be as though LoveLess had never split. And, of course, both sides would still have power, so she would not lose her position as a leader.

There was also the matter of _not_ making an alliance. If she did not make an alliance, she would lose touch with many of the guild members. She had made relationships with many of the guild members in her time with LoveLess and the new branch of LoveLess; if she did not make an alliance, she would most likely have to form new relationships with new people, while losing many that she had once known as friends. These were the points with which I would convince myself that I _had _to tell her to make an alliance.

"_It is time for you to fix your bonds."_

"_Don't let us down, Nami."_

The words of the past echo in my mind as I realize what has brought me here. My palms are screaming as I try to convince myself that this is what I had to do.

But of course, being the young, inexperienced, and emotional child I was, I had to also remember the fact that this was a world of people with emotions as well. There was no black-and-white, no absolute good or bad. Even if a decision was good for one person, it would inevitably be upsetting for another. Chi already proved that she didn't want an alliance with LoveLess; she proved that she wanted _nothing_ to do with LoveLess. Telling her to make an alliance would be forcing her to do something fully against her will.

People in LoveLess wanted her back. People in her new guild wanted to her to go back—her best friends, too! But if _she_ didn't want to go back…

"_Best friends have to stick together, wouldn't you agree?"_

"_You do have an obligation…_._"_

I can't do this to her…. I can't force her to do what I was forced to do such a long time ago. As the words of my past continue to whirl throughout my mind, a small, single sentence by my guild leader, Martel, is remembered, and I grab hold of it, trying to stop thinking of everything else at the moment.

"_Well, I don't want to force you, okay? Just remember, I'm still your friend, even if you don't want to…_._"_

I feel a sharp, stabbing flash of pain, and I look down to see that my palm has been punctured, a small drop of blood already welling up. I watch silently as it drops to the floor, but Chi is still staring at me intently.

"Well, Nami? What do you want to say?"

"I…" I look up at her, my mouth barely trembling. "I want to say…

Do whatever you want."

She blinks at me. "I'm sorry?"

"If you want to make an alliance, we'd be so glad to have you back," I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth now, "but if you don't want to make an alliance, then don't. I don't want you to do something if it means forcing you do to do something against your will."

Her mouth drops open slightly, and her crossed arms relax for a moment. "I…Well, thank you, Nami. I guess I'll…I'll talk to you later?"

I nod and smile, already folding up my chair to get up and walk again. "Talk to you later, Chi."

She stands up and folds her chair away as well, turning away to walk off. She turns back to me for a second and opens her mouth—her eyes looked as though she wanted to say something—but she closes it a moment later, turns away again, and walks away, until the floating dust covers her in the distance and I can no longer see her.

* * *

"Nami!"

I turn to see a blond figure—a Crusader that I had not seen in months, apparently—sprinting towards me, waving to catch my attention. I smile and stop, returning the wave. "Hi, Wolfen! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Hey," he replies, finally catching up to me. He gasps for breath and brushes his bangs out of his eyes. "I got a message from my twin for you."

"A message from Chi?" I put a finger to my chin, tilting my head. "What's that?"

"She says 'Thanks for the advice'," he says, shrugging. "Whatever that means."

"Advice?" I scratch my head. "What advice…?"

And then, in a burst of reminiscence, I remember. My conversation with Chi. About the alliance. Her own story. I smile half-heartedly.

"Tell her I said 'You're welcome'," I say. He grins.

"Right, you got it. See ya." And with a quick clap on my shoulder, he's running, getting farther away with every second until the heat of the sun and the dust kicked up by others blurs his image. I smile ruefully.

I hadn't done what everyone else had wanted. The alliance would never happen; the hatred would probably persist later on, perhaps even with other groups. Conflict would never truly end.

But in my perspective, I had made my own decision. I had listened to myself for once. Chi would finally have her own freedom. Everyone would, eventually.

That was good enough for me.


	9. Epilogue

It's a sunny day.

I sit in the guild hall, which is nearly empty today, save for a few members chatting quietly or simply relaxing. The drama has now been nearly forgotten—merely a shred of memories.

I look at the old, weather-beaten book next to me. I flip through the pages as I read the words one final time. As I reach the end, I realize that there are a few blank pages left. A smile begins to spread across my face as I lift a pen to the pages.

Of course, the tale had ended, but there was always time for one more….

* * *

It's been one year since the guild drama.

Lots of things have happened since then. LoveLess has been growing well, you know. So has Chi's guild, I would suppose—I see some of her guild mates occasionally during journeys.

I guess it should be known that Chi didn't make an alliance with her guild. Instead, LoveLess made several alliances—most of which did not last—until we settled with a few guilds that worked well with us, and Chi presumably did the same.

I haven't seen Rain lately, but I've heard she's growing very quickly—a Bishop already! We don't talk much to each other, but we're still friends, and we talk a few times on occasion.

Speaking of Bishops, Nullus is still active, although I'm not in contact with him. I see him occasionally when I'm walking across Henesys, but you know, he never talks to me. I don't think he even remembers me.

I've talked to Wolfen more often than Rain and Nullus, though. He's nice as ever, and although he never does talk much, he's still doing fine, as well as his sister. Speaking of Chi, I haven't heard from her lately, if I must be honest. She never connects to the network as often as she normally would, but I can't blame her. Some people have more than one life to lead, after all. I wish her the best in that life, wherever she may be headed.

Wolfen's asked about Butta sometimes, to measure how both of them are training—figures that they would talk about training! Butta doesn't contact us very frequently, but when he does, he's always very friendly the way he usually is. His little brother joined the guild a while ago, and although he hadn't talked much when he first joined, he's becoming more active now, which is always a good thing to see. Butta, to tell you the truth, had stopped contacting us at some time for what felt like months, but he's had a change of heart and returned. It's always great to see him, you know.

Oh, and do you remember that Ranger, Dorothy? She left the guild some time back, and she's taken up merchanting, apparently. She never talks anymore, and I heard she's also taken on a new identity, but Butta said that he saw her in the marketplace a while back.

Ichi's another one of the guild mates that don't contact us much. He's off leading his other life, you know, doing some tough work. It's pretty dangerous, from what I've gathered (and partially guessed), and I always hope he's safe. He doesn't talk much either; he mainly trains while he can contact us, but he can always slip in a few "Hi"s at the very least. Seeing him visit is always nice.

Ah, do you remember the name of Verte? I remember he was just a little Cleric when I first met him—and now look where he is, a Bishop and the pride of the guild! Well, pride of the alliance; he's in a new guild mostly founded by ex-members of LoveLess. They and LoveLess have had some rough disagreements, but for the most part the members still stay in touch with each other.

Thug has been cheerfully training nonstop, declaring that he wants to train to the point where he's stronger than me. I'm fairly sure that he'll achieve that goal soon, as I have no motivation whatsoever, but he doesn't seem convinced. He and Tonima seem to be good friends.

That reminds me of another person who has no motivation whatsoever. Kai's finally obtained her third job title, and LoveLess is probably surprised as much as I am, but we're still proud of her either way.

I have to tell you, I haven't seen SJB in a while. Matt told me that he's doing some extensive traveling in his other life, but we're not too sure of when he'll be returning. He hasn't left us, though—at least, I think that's what Matt told me.

Speaking of Matt, he's doing well, too! He's been through some tough situations and such, but he's still friendly as ever, and although he's no longer a part of LoveLess, he's still in contact with me, a fact that makes me happy—for the most part, at least. Heh.

Which reminds me of someone else who makes me happy (for the most part), Dan. He's basically stopped contacting, but there isn't much I can do about it, you know. Friends come and go. It's a natural part of life.

Dan isn't the only friend that hasn't stopped contacting, I'll tell you the truth. I haven't heard from Lady Martel in months, but I have heard that she's having communication problems, so it might not be completely her fault.

Majeh's gone for the most part; by the time Chi had returned, none of us had seen where he ended up. Perhaps he just abandoned this world for good, but I won't let it bother me.

Sissy hasn't contacted us in a very long time. I wouldn't be surprised if she had done the same as Majeh. We heard her connect to the network a few days ago, but she didn't say anything and I'm not sure if that was really even her.

Ane's gone as well; I think she was expelled from the guild at one point, and I assume she's joined a new one. I haven't heard from her in a month or so—I contacted her briefly when she returned during our world's 4th birthday, but that was it.

Oh, I've seen Liz contact us, but she's really only connected during very early hours, so I'm not sure how often she's in contact with us.

Do you remember Ryu, though? He's gone for sure. He gave away his identity to a friend of his, and he's off in his other life somewhere, hopefully doing well. (And if you must know, I have no idea where Hawkins may be now.)

I'm fairly sure Stella's gone as well. I haven't seen her since that meeting in the guild hall.

If I'm not forgetting anyone else, Jace is the last person I remember having left the guild. Butta told me that the life she had described to us was actually not hers, and that she wasn't as great as I thought she would be. I'm not sure what to make of that, but her leaving hasn't affected me much.

Nyan and Martel have been leading us continually since that drama ended. Recently, they lost contact with us, but Carol—she's a relative of Lady Martel and Liz—has helped to lead the guild until they returned. Obviously, that meant I've fallen down the chain of command slightly, but who am I to complain? I can honestly say that I trust and respect Carol completely. She's a wonderful person and it's great to see that she's making sure the guild is stable, no matter what happens. I only wish, for those who no longer belong to LoveLess, that you could meet Carol and all of the new members.

There's Hito, who's a young but fairly strong Crusader. I can't tell if she's introverted or extroverted—she acts like she's a bit of both—but at any rate, she's a nice person to talk to. She's an artistic sort of person; I've seen her drawings and I love them.

There's Ollie, a Ranger who's very nice and friendly. He suggests training spots for me, as well as music. In fact, I'm listening to one of them right now, heh. He's in Verte's guild now, though, so I don't know if he's still a guild mate, but I still consider him one.

There's actually so many new people that I can't name and describe them all. Meggo, Ankha, Salt, Emi, Lando, Elyon, Dustin…. It would take me forever to say all of their names. To put it simply, they're all an important part of LoveLess, no matter how it may seem to other people.

I can't pretend that there haven't been new conflicts. I can't pretend that we've been peaceful for the year that Chi finally stopped worrying about LoveLess. But even though there were problems, conflicts, anything that happened is still appreciated in my eyes.

I don't care if that guild split one year ago hurt everyone. I don't care if we lost friends and realized some friends weren't real. I don't care, because quite frankly, without all of that conflict, I'd still be that cowering little pushover girl that new nothing about the world.

And to all those who were involved in my life, whether it be in the guild drama or not. Regardless of what you have done in the past—whether you comforted me or hurt me in a way to make me seek comfort—you made an impact. Without any of one of you, this ending may have never been written.

So thank you. To everyone.

_To martelswrath, Nyantsen, Sissyknight, KHluver, TsuakiBoo, Schalle, Chimerla, xXxSJBMANxXx, PeanutButta1, ichigono, linkwolfen, nullus, LadyMartel4000, StoneColdFox, anenome1, thugax532, firearrow16, vi3tgurl101, MajehLight, Ryuken9, and sk8trchik333:_

_Thank you for everything._

_With love,_

_Nami_


End file.
